Revised college essay

College Essay

Zachary Chock

Period 2

9/9/11

Topic

University of Pugent sound -
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.  It was my maturity that made me different.  Learning from a certain event, I had decided to stop playing around and be serious to myself and others.  Many teens of my age wanted to just live out their lives and do as much fun as they could.  Looking at that, I wanted to be unique, different, and be able to stand out from others that I knew who acted in a way I found to be "disturbing and inappropriate.  When I looked at my peers and how they acted out against each other, I contrasted them and I and told myself I wouldn't become anything like them.  It was for that reason from there on in Intermediate school that 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 stereotypical prepubescent 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.  I found it easy to make friends with those like me and it was okay, but we were all looked at as 'nerds, and tweakers' by the passerby students in the library, just there to have fun or cause trouble.

            To everyone else, I was called the outcast, one of those who were ostracized from school, society, and kept out of the groups and social circles.  I was always there to act like a policeman, governing and watching out for the kids who were teased, and others criticized my actions 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.  Despite this, I chose not to become immature and act stupid, but stick to how I had always decided to be.

            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 8^th 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 ‘turtle’ act and 'dropped the shell', 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.  Then, others began to act mature, and asked me for help, looking at their mistakes and regretting how they had treated others.