Personal Essay I came from a family where education is the utmost priority. Since childhood I was surrounded by books that my parent valued so much. In one of these books I came across the quote by Aristotle “the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet”. Being a child of Western Ukrainian immigrants I came as a first grader to this country with no knowledge of English. I have learned that the roots of education are truly bitter, as my parents did not make it easy for me.
While my parents were mastering their new professions, working at night and taking classes during the day at CSU, I had to establish and educate myself right at the very beginning of my school years. I probably did well because by the end of the 4th grade, that’s in two years, I had only “A”s and “B”s in my entire academic subjects and spoke fluent English. The quote by Charles de Gaulle “only by coming to grips with difficulties one can realize his potentials” became the second supporting pillar of my personal philosophy.
Hard work and consistency became the third pillar of my philosophy. If there is such a thing as a gene of “industriousness” I probably inherited it from my mother. This is one thing that really helped me overcome the hardships of being bilingual. Teachers never realized how hard it was for me to follow and comprehend oral and written information just because of a slower process time due to being bilingual. I also took intense courses in Spanish while in school. I would rather characterize myself as a person of moral obligation and word.
Once I set my mind on something I always do it. I always follow through on my promises be it cutting the grass for my church, or tutoring a bilingual child. I will show up whatever it takes me. I will keep my promise and find time in my busy schedule even if it detriments my own grades. I think that I am a humanist and love working with people. Working for my community and participating in Key Club activities, while at school, gave me a lot of moral satisfaction.
This year I spent over 300 hours doing volunteer work for my church like playing piano at concerts, landscaping work, cleaning my church, participating in holiday bazaars and cultural events, tutoring English to newcomers – immigrants. If I further describe myself I would add curiosity and the temptation to challenge myself with hard classes. I never just took easy classes. I challenged myself with hard classes like Honors Chemistry and AP Calculus which lowered my GPA, but I still stayed in them. The desire to learn more was always driving me to ditches that other students were wisely avoiding.
Since I skipped 2nd grade I was also a year younger than everyone else in my high school classes. My first AP teacher in 10th grade thought that I won’t be able to pass AP exam. I passed three exams and was awarded AP Scholar with Honor Award. While in 10th grade I started to think in the direction of International Business. My appreciation of peoples’ different cultures, languages and my interest in Business strongly convinced me that the only way to pursue my next goal in life will be to earn a degree in International Business.
I think that I would be a good candidate to represent the growing Ukrainian and Russian population in Cleveland area and provide people with better services in business. I am a naturalized child of Western Ukrainian immigrants who came to this country with no English and overcame great difficulties by being industrious and persistent to become a successful student. I always remember that only those who push themselves to the best of their abilities can overcome difficulties.
I have been always exposed to different cultural experiences and to natural difficulties of the immigrant’s life. I learned to appreciate friendliness and help of many people who were willing to help me and my family as I was gaining more American experiences in my new homeland. My persistence in learning from failure, working hard, being consistent in coming towards my goals will make me a worthy candidate for the chosen scholarship. I will be highly honored to be included on the list of potential CSU Scholarship recipients. Please consider me as one of the candidates. Sincerely,
