College Essay
Zachary Chock
Period 2
9/9/11
Topic
C. Explain how your experiences as a teenager significantly differ from those of your friends. Include comparisons.
During the beginning of Middle School and my development as a teenager, I was always trying to be different from those around me. I wanted to be unique, different, and stand out from others that I knew. When I saw my peers and how they acted out against each other, I didn’t want to be like them. Many people thought I was weird, and shy, but I was the only one who thought it was okay and acceptable.
While I was growing and maturing, I strayed away from the mainstream group. I was the odd one out, along with others who were like me and acted similar to how I would be. The “Mainstream” group, was more of a reckless and immature group, being what I would describe as “delinquents” as I grew in Middle School. The students would not listen to the teacher, despite age of approximately 12 – 14, still pass notes, try to text, but to no avail as the teacher would always select the most obvious texting students like a eagle plucking it’s prey. When noticed, others would ask me why I never talked too much, or went on little “prank excursions” like everyone else. It was bandwagon propaganda, in which everyone said, “Hop on! Be with us!” but I declined.
As I became older and lost pieces of my immaturity and strange behavior, I noticed that instead of the other students maturing and reaching levels of higher cognitive thinking with age, they simply grew more immature, setting examples of things I never wanted to become. The teacher and counselor noticed me as one of the very rarely seen students who obeyed almost everything asked of them, behaved better than most of the students, and did not get any referrals. I was labeled as a “goody two shoes” by my peers, and left out of their cliques, just confined to the library with the “others” that were silent, or did not have very social experiences and lives.
To everyone else, I was an outcast, someone who was ostracized from school society, and looked down upon. I was always there to act governing, as I told on and reported on many people for marking walls or stealing equipment, and that was looked down upon as a bad thing. The students would take their anger out on me, and I was possibly one of the most hated middle school students at the time. My ‘officer’ behavior caught the attention of many, even adults, and they told me to calm down or to let them handle it. I disobeyed that, and as I kept telling, I kept making more enemies.
Eventually, I became more social, and began to shed my shell that kept me from being so shy and reclusive. I also found I was impaired by a high functioning form of Autism, called Aspergers, and it was because of that, I found it very difficult to be open and social, or make friends. I also used a lot of complicated words, which everyone found awkward. I tried hard by the 8th grade to be more like the students, albeit unlike them, not joining in their activities, just adopting their speech style and talk. The more I dropped my ‘shy turtle’ act, the more easier it was to adapt to the student body and create friends out of enemies. They noticed the change, and they began to accept me, and treat me less harsh as they realized how immature they had acted and imposed upon others.
hey zach! well i thought you're essay answers the question pretty well. You used you're trait of being shy, quiet, "the good boy" type, as a way to show that you would always listen to what you're authorities say. That could be a good trait to have as a college applicant because colleges would want students that are mature enough to attend their school. One thing you can work on is showing more of what traits you have NOW, as if the person reading you're essay would want to enroll you.
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