<p>I don’t understand what this question is supposed to be asking.</p>
<p>It seems very clear to me.</p>
<p>You could write about the environmental influences that have shaped you. My daughter was also stumped by that question back in 2006, when she applied. She grew up in a suburban California town with two professional parents, and it all seemed too boring to write about. But the more she thought about it, the more she honed in on an important influence: a particular club in her high school. You could write about a relationship that has made a difference in your life, an experience, an event, etc.</p>
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<p>You are a fish. You have lived for your whole life in a particular tank with a particular type of water. </p>
<p>Tell us about them.</p>
<p>Nice metaphor, Chris.
Describe the world I come from ?</p>
<p>My name is Ontabozirium, and I live on the dwarf planet Ceres. Here at Ceres, the ground is a combination of red,brown and purple sand-like substances; the water here is green, but I guess I shouldn’t be calling it water since it’s not exactly H2O, but rather a more complicated combination of elements --Though, no one really cares about it because our bodies do not consist of water at all. I eat metal for breakfast, lunch, dinner and prummer (which doesn’t exist in your 24-hr-a-day planet–it’s mealtime for us). Honestly, I can’t tell you much about my world at this moment because my species is surreptitiously spying on you earth lings, but if you let me in your institution (which is like kinder garden here anyway), I will share many more fascinating details about **the world I come from. **</p>
<p>B.T.W, I’ll probably have to waive my interview if you humans don’t find an efficient way to get here in less than like a bazillion years. I’d come over for an on-campus interview myself, but my mom just confiscated my LLX2893 Power intergalactic motorcycle for accidentally destroying a nearby planet with my toy nuclear reactors. Sorry !!</p>
<p>So it’s basically how the people around you have influenced you?</p>
<p>The focus of your response should not necessarily be the way people around you influenced you. It could be, but doesn’t have to be. Maybe you want to tell admissions officers that you live in a poor neighborhood, attend a high school with 12% graduation rate, etc. Or maybe you wish to share how much growing up in a farm influnced your view of the world and directed your interests. It could be anything. It’s your world; choose what you want to share in the most meaningful way. Most importantly, be yourself. Admissions officers are human beings, and they want to get to know you, not hear about how x1,x2 and x3 made you determined to end world hunger, unless it is true.
Honestly, I’d rather submit my ridiculous post earlier than pretend to be someone I am not. Tell them how great you are for who you are and describe how the world you come from has played a role in your life.</p>
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People, environment, events, things, (insert other nouns here). Any one or combination of those.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! :D</p>
<p>Basically most essay prompts are trying to get the student to tell the admissions staff one or more of the following items; 1) who you are; 2) how has your environment shaped who you are? and 3) what have you done to shape your environment? In that way, the admissions staff can get a picture of what you bring to the table as far as being a student at their school. Your grades and you test scores are numbers that tell them about your academic abilities but not the real person that you are.</p>
<p>Look at the question in that context.</p>
<p>If it helps, I wrote about how getting up early every Saturday morning to attend a university physics seminar sparked my interest in science back in 8th grade.</p>