UC ​Berkeley Admissions Essays

Untitled (Prompt #1)

Prompt:

Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.


Dreams are shaped by ideals and families shape the beliefs we grasp so strongly. Someday I want to save and change lives through a medical career. Because my family has taught me that change can be positive and radical in altering lives, I hope to hold that ability someday. I seek the power to improve my life as well as the lives of those around me. And most of all because of those who have raised me I dedicate a path of personal improvement and the formation of a dedicated individual who promotes good character.

My father was a doctor in Argentina, but when we immigrated to the United States his chance to shape a brighter future was inhibited by his limited mastery of the English language. My greatest yearning is to keep his dreams alive and to be someone like my father who raised my brother and me after divorcing my mother. I watched my father's future fall apart, I watched his zeal and ambition be held back, I watched and could do nothing. Now I dream of reviving those dreams he once dreamt. With the fire that fuels me I want to become as great and as inspiring as my father is to me.

I aspire to building a brighter future for my family, as well as myself, because I was clay and theirs were the artist's hands. My father taught me the gratification of hard work, and because of that I respect him whole-heartedly even if he isn't as wealthy as other men. My brother taught me the lesson of change, because he has become a better person right before my eyes. And the rest of my passing influences have taught me to care for those in need and to see the world through the eyes of others.

Also I strive to build a self that I can be proud of and others can look up to. The hope to be a decent individual flows within me, the hope to be a person that is caring, hardworking, inspiring, and influential. I want to be someone who tries to change the world and succeeds in changing someone's world. Because of my family I once attended church and what I learned was the Golden Rule. Today I shape my actions around it and believe in honesty wholeheartedly. People change, it's to be expected, but I hope that when I change it is only for the better.

I have much to owe to my family and I will repay all they have given me through all I accomplish and who I become.The shattered dreams of my father will be pieced together in my inexperienced hands. The future that I dream of will solidify into reality as I step closer with the faith of those who love me, and I will not relent in this mission as long as they are here to inspire me and urge me on. The me that exists today isthe one they helped to shape, and the me that comes forth in the future is the me that I owe to my family: the light that guides my path in the stormy seas of the world.

 


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How to cite this essay (MLA)

Im, Melisa. "Untitled (Prompt #1)" StudyNotes.org. Study Notes, LLC., 07 Oct. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.apstudynotes.org/uc-berkeley/untitled-prompt-1/>.
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