Please provide us with a summary of your personal and family background. Include information about your parents and siblings, where you grew up, and perhaps a special memory of your youth.
Sample One
My name is Tom Smith. I grew up in a small farming community called Bettendorf in south-central Iowa. I had an enjoyable childhood that centered around church, family, and athletics. My father was a banker and worked quite a bit when I was growing up. My mother was a teacher who made sure I was a model child by the time I started school. I never had any brothers or sisters, but I had a cousin born six weeks after me. We’ve always been brothers.
In fifth grade I had my first real brush with reality. My parents, after 19 years of marriage, decided to divorce. It was difficult for me because divorce seemed so “dirty,” and suddenly I was a child of divorce. Fortunately, my parents were incredibly mature about the situation. With their guidance, I learned at an early age that strong people make the best of unpleasant circumstances. As time went on, I realized that the divorce was for the best, and I actually came to be thankful for it as they were both happier and more supportive of me following the separation. This hindsight, achieved later in my childhood, stood as a perfect example of why I should always do what I feel is right despite external pressure.
While my parents’ divorce was a watershed event in my childhood, my most memorable experience was recovering from my plagued football career. It taught me one of my most life-defining lessons. From the beginning of middle school, football was my life. By my freshman year in high school, I was the number six kicker in the state of Iowa. I had already received multiple calls from the University of Iowa wanting to send scouts to watch me kick. My four years of college were already planned. That dream soon came crashing to an end as I sat in a hospital bed one August evening of my sophomore year after surgery for my second broken leg in six months. My “pity party” lasted for a week or so.
As I sat in bed thinking about my disintegrating kicking career, a light switched on. I looked around my room at all the get well cards, signed posters from cheerleaders, and game balls from the football team. It became obvious what strong friends I had, and how lucky I was. It was at this point I refocused my efforts toward academics. I had always been a good student but had never seriously applied myself. I decided I would go to a top university through the use of my head, not my foot. This redirection of my efforts is something I’m proud to recall. I learned that in most cases, an unfortunate event is usually a new opportunity in disguise. I continue to live my life this way, and when something doesn’t go the way I expect it to, I look for the bright side and focus on what positive things this new experience might add to my life.
There are great memories from my childhood that make me laugh, and sad ones that remind me of difficult times, but these experiences have made me what I am today. Through what seemed to be an unfortunate separation and a shortened football career, I have learned that every event, no matter how enjoyable or unfortunate, is an opportunity to grow. Making the most of a situation is the key to personal development. I’m happy with where my life is heading and excited about my opportunities in the near future.
Sample Two
The aroma of roasted pork ribs permeating the air, laughter pulsing through the room, and joy spreading throughout the whole family—these memories come alive when I reflect upon my favorite childhood event in Taiwan, the celebration of Chinese New Year. Every year, my family gathered around the table, celebrated our past accomplishments, and welcomed new challenges. As a tradition, my grandpa went around the table and asked each grandchild how he or she had improved. At the tender age of five, I considered learning to count or avoiding fights with boys as milestones. Without fail, my grandpa commended us on even the smallest of achievements and through this taught us to appreciate success of others, no matter how trivial they may appear.
When I grew older, my dad told me that, regardless of the financial difficulty to raise seven children, my grandpa always donated money to help fund the education of the other poor farmers’ children. My parents took this lesson to heart: despite the long hours and hard work that they put into building a dental practice, they spent holidays voluntarily treating patients in rural areas. As the clinic stabilized and my mom pursued her career as a brokerage firm manager, she made it a point to set aside time out of her busy work and family life to follow my grandpa’s footsteps and mentor young women in becoming strong business leaders. After I began to value the success of others, I further learned from the examples of my grandpa and my parents to help others reach their goals whenever possible.
Though they had arranged to move to the United States in pursuit of a better education for my brothers and me, my parents postponed their plan when my grandpa suddenly became ill. Instead, at the age of thirteen, I came to America with my fifteen-year-old brother, Mark. Initially, we lived with my uncle. Financially insecure and emotionally unavailable, my uncle could hardly take care of two additional children on top of his two toddlers. On the first Chinese New Year eve away from home, Mark and I gobbled down cold McDonald’s burgers in the dimly lit dining room of my uncle’s small apartment. The joy, laughter, and room filled with loved ones that marked every previous Chinese New Year I had ever known seemed like distant memories. I longed to be reunited with my family. Months later, when my parents informed us that they would stay in Taiwan indefinitely, I realized that I had to become strong and rely on myself.
Although my parents offered constant emotional support, they remained half a globe away. As a teenager who was juggling academic pressure, growing pains, and domestic responsibilities, I grew to appreciate life’s challenges and tackled them head on with courage and confidence. At the age of fourteen, Mark and I moved out on our own. At school, I struggled to decode Biology and Algebra while trying to learn English; at home, I stumbled through cooking, cleaning, and being an adult. My classmates were picked up by their parents after school to attend soccer practice or dinner with their families while I bused home to finish grammar and sentence composition homework in time to prepare macaroni and cheese for Mark and myself. I recognized the urgency of mastering the English language, so I perused every children’s book in the library, kept a diary in English, and repeated after Sesame Street characters to practice English. During my high school years, my diligence paid off when I tested out of English as a Second Language classes and earned straight A’s in my honors and AP classes. Encouraged by my progress in the classroom, I turned my attention to the tennis team and tried out for two years until I finally made the team. Similarly, I overcame my fear of speaking in public in my adopted language by leading the International Club. Above all, I worked hard to gain the respect of my peers.
The assertiveness, determination, and independence that I developed during this time continued to guide me through my college years and beyond. Without any parents holding my hand or telling me what steps to take, I developed a habit of choosing my own path and creating opportunities for myself. In college, I designed a curriculum that combined my passion for East Asia with my desire to learn about economics. My Senior Thesis on entrepreneurship in Asia represented the culmination of all that I had learned in my courses as I applied general economic theories to the idiosyncrasies of East Asian societies. As I searched for a new career after my tenure in investment banking, I aggressively utilized my extensive network of contacts to secure a position with Nordstrom, a company that typically hires internal candidates, particularly during difficult economic times. While I have learned tremendously about myself through this journey, I remember the examples of my grandpa and my parents to help those around me. My younger brother Ryan, who still lives in Taiwan, currently encounters many of the same obstacles that I confronted during college. Despite the distance, I have constantly encouraged him to pursue his dreams and pave his own way.
Though I have always been happy to help my family, whether holding together a household for Mark and me or offering Ryan advice, I have found that sharing my own lessons with others outside my family is just as rewarding. In high school, I tutored young immigrant children in both English and Chinese. During college, I mentored immigrant high school students on schoolwork as well as college admissions. Currently, I advise Stanford students in choosing majors and researching careers. I also chair the Youth Committee on the Board of Directors for Adolescent Counseling Services, a nonprofit agency dedicated to helping teens with emotional and social problems. Each step of the way, I have looked back and appreciated the encouragement that I received from friends, teachers and counselors. I strive to serve as a role model for teens to help them realize their potential, and to inspire them to make things happen for themselves just as I did.
January of 2004 marks the first time I have returned to Taiwan during Chinese New Year since I left for the United States twelve years ago. I eagerly look forward to the celebration, even more so as I will be surrounded by my family in Taiwan. Without their unconditional support over the years and their moral compass that they instilled in me at an early age, I would not have established the solid foundation to blossom into the multi-cultural, socially responsible, courageous, and independent woman that I am today.