Never Lose a Faith in Yourself by Eunmee

Never Lose a Faith in Yourself by Eunmee - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

I am a non-traditional student whose dreams of pursuing a higher education was severely disrupted due to my father’s bankruptcy during my high school years in the 2000’s. My family lost everything, including the luxury of a university education for their second daughter. In 2003, I was accepted to universities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and I was planning to attend a college of my choice. The financial difficulties I faced agonized me as my dreams of attending a university in the United States were brutally shattered, and I was thrown into the world without any job skills. I was confused and devastated for months, holding university acceptance letters in my hands, because I had never imagined myself not being able to obtain a Bachelor’s degree. However, I was determined to support my family and decided to work instead of pursuing higher education for myself. I promised myself that I would get a degree after stabilizing the crisis, no matter how long it took. I worked at multiple part-time jobs with exhausting hours, only affording to sleep four hours a day to provide my family with essential needs while also saving money for my tuition. After several years, people discouraged me by advising me to give up on my dreams of attending a university in the States as my income was not sufficient enough to support myself financially for four years. Although there were times when the situation seemed impossible, I stayed focused to achieve my dreams of attending a university by working hard and staying positive.
I overcame the academically challenging situation by never losing a faith in myself; I developed strategies to seek multiple revenue streams and created detailed long-term plans to actualize my dreams. Eventually, I managed a restaurant with over thirty employees in 2008, and started my own business in 2012, which enabled me to increase my savings for tuition and living expenses for a university education. In 2015, I finally was able to attend a community college in Los Angeles. In the beginning of my first year, I faced another academically challenging situation because of my limited proficiency in English. Reading textbooks, understanding lectures, writing research papers, and presenting in a language in which I was not completely fluent required an intensive method of study. However, I am a person who perseveres for what she believes in. I dedicated my time and effort to improving my English by recording every lecture and listening to it repeatedly until I fully understood the content. I also frequently visited professors’ office hours and read articles on a daily basis to do my own research outside of school assignments. I always completed assignments ahead of time and studied longer hours to overcome my language barriers. My social skills also helped me practice and improve my English, as I established amiable relationships with many professors and classmates. My two years of hard work in academia were eventually awarded as I got accepted to the university of my dreams, UCLA, in 2018.
I have faced many challenges in my life, which placed me in a disadvantageous position in socioeconomic status, and I was subject to biases due to the language barrier. However, I am not embarrassed by my weaknesses, and I believe that admitting one’s weaknesses will help the person work harder to overcome them. Despite English being my second language, I am now proudly a bilingual person whose English is at an excellent level after four years of life in the United States. Because of the challenges that I faced for several years, my life has changed dramatically; I learned the importance of prioritization and diligence, and to stay optimistic even in a desperate situation. The attributes I learned from these experiences shaped who I am as a student today and have had a positive effect on my academic performance. I manage time wisely to balance my personal life with school, organize well to work under pressure when there are multiple assignments and tests from different classes, and appreciate every single educational opportunity I have. I can claim that I am one of the most motivated students who thrives in any given situation and takes initiative to pursue educational opportunities.