An Academic Affair by Anthony Haddad - July 04, 2002

This personal statement helps us become acquainted with you in ways different from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will demonstrate your ability to organize thoughts and express yourself. We are looking for an essay that will help us know you better as a person and as a student. Please write an essay (250-500 words) on a topic of your choice or on one of the options listed below. You may attach your essay on separate sheets (same size, please). Also, please indicate your topic by checking the appropriate box below.

Oh, you naughty girl you! NO, I can&apos&apost spend the night, I have so much work to do. I&apos&aposm sorry...look...I promise I&apos&aposll make it up to you on the weekend. I won&apos&apost even go see my friends on Friday. Yeah, I promise. Sure, of course I think about you...I think about you all the ti-what!?! Now you think I&apos&aposm cheating on you? Listen, don&apos&apost make this any bigger than it already is. I said I got some important stuff to do, and I&apos&aposll see you later!

I just had a talk with her. Didn&apos&apost go too well...Well what more does she want from me? Three hours a night isn&apos&apost good enough? But wait! Allow me to clarify things! This is not some petty teenage love quarrel, but a gruesome, drawn out war I have engaged in for much of my life. The "significant other" I argued with above is not a girlfriend, but uniquely, a void filled in my life by....a BED: that&apos&aposs right! A bed! I&apos&aposm unfaithful to sleep! I cheat on sleep like an adulterous husband, like a tango dancer that has had one too many partners! I "sleep around": just about anywhere- in the car, on the lunch table, in history class-I&apos&aposm high on life while simultaneously, nearly every individual component within my environment has a near sleep-inducing fect on me. But I realize now by the near end of my high school term, I wouldn&apos&apost have wanted it any other way.

"Are you O.K. honey? Lately, you&apos&aposve seemed a little hara-kiriish-well, I mean, you&apos&aposre way up there with your potential...you do have a lot on your plate." Many concerned teachers have approached me with this same, almost robotically preset inquiry. My Algebra II/Trig. teacher, apparently with a bachelor&apos&aposs in psychology, called me in once for a one-on-one. From his line of questioning, it was obvious he was looking for the tell-tale signs of suicide...No, I&apos&aposm not suicidal! I have a wonderfully loving family, great friends, a great school: life is grand! I&apos&aposm involved in so many things because that&apos&aposs the only way I like it. While it may be somewhat painful the night of, the next morning, I&apos&aposm amazed at having finished my math homework, written an English essay, and memorized all my lines for the play. What I do not like, though, is the word potential..."Calm down man, you&apos&aposre way ahead of your potential" someone once said. A potential attempts to impose a calculated box around one&apos&aposs achievements, limiting their possible accomplishments. If I am convinced my potential is an &apos&apos8&apos&apos, my every fort from then on will be to achieve a &apos&apos9&apos&apos. Potential is an individual&apos&aposs promise to one&apos&aposs self: one of excellence-to strive to achieve, to succeed everyday, to encapsulate yourself within a shell by morning and break through it by night. Only a quitter has a fixed potential.

I must say now, this whole &apos&aposcheating-on-sleep&apos&apos idea is somewhat exaggerated and meant for comical fect. Surely, I am not an insomniac, nor am I narcoleptic, and I don&apos&apost intend on changing in college and making up for this &apos&aposlost&apos&apos nap-time. But all I know for sure is this: if commitment to excellence comes at the expense of &apos&aposcheating-on-sleep&apos&apos, file me for adultery, &apos&aposcuz I&apos&aposm not changing!

更多出国留学最新动态，敬请关注澳际教育手机端网站，并可拨打咨询热线：400-601-0022