Use the following format when you post
Your Name
Sentence
Description
David Lui
Seed Sentence: While losing is heartbreaking, it is also beneficial because one can learn from one’s lost. I’ve come to realize that in a game of chess, winning and losing are both win-win situations. You learn from each game, and from that you adapt to whatever the situation may be. With each victory comes a loss, and I learned not to be discouraged by it. I accept losing now as it made me a better chess player and person.
Description of Personal Essay: A determined and overconfident chess player will undergo a personality change, learning to accept defeat rather than deny it, in order to become a mature individual. I intend to include and talk about how my whole chess experience began and the journey I went through to become the person I am today. Starting out chess with a good prior foundation of the game, I won all my chess matches and developed into a conceited and arrogant chess player. Losing was not an option when I entered the world of chess since winning gave me a monumental feeling of self-gratification that I was addicted to. Little did I know that losing my very first chess game in a Chess-In-The-Schools tournament in Brooklyn not only made me a better chess player but also made me realize that losing is not always a bad thing in life.
Anna Ku
Seed Sentence: Although acting out of impulse may be consider a negative thing from many standpoints, in some rare cases a valuable lesson could be gained through such an experience. Just three months ago I was completely unaware of all the possible consequences owning a dog may bring forth, but now I am. Adding a new member to the family is very different from buying a new toy or game console.
Description of Personal Essay: Like what my seed sentence stated, I’ll be discussing the many consequences of buying a puppy out of impulse. I will discuss the realization of the big responsibility added upon the shoulders of not only my shoulder but everyone in the household. It was necessary to ensure that the dog doesn’t eat any food that is hazardous to the species or chew on any wires that may lead to his death. Since my brother and I brought the dog without our parents consent, it was my responsibility to housebreak him before going away for college. If I failed he would be sent to the animal shelter or given to a friend according to my mother. In order to ensure that my dog would not be sent away while I was away at college, I felt an immense pressure placed upon me. Through my experience I was able to become a more responsible person and actually consider myself an adult.
Conor O'Brien
Seed Sentence: High school acted as a buffer between my sister and I, allowing us to live in a similar world, yet greatly restricting the strength of our relationship. College, however, with physical distance serving as a new variable, has enabled us to recognize the need for each other as we go through and experience life.
Description of personal essay: Although my seed sentence speaks of the changing dynamic of my relationship with my sister, my essay will make the overall claim that distance, in fact, does make the heart grow fonder. I will explore my evolving relationship with my parents as I experience life for the first time without them. In addition, I'll speak of my growing appreciation for my family as I struggle with what it seems as unbearable homesickness.
Liam Vermazen
Seed Sentence:I like every other person in the world who’s had a cell phone has lost mine countless times. I search everywhere in the world for it with little to no luck. After the fruitless search I give up and sit down only to face the frustrating revelation it was in my pocket the whole time. Sometimes if we take a moment to stop thinking about the question we can finally reach the answer.
Description of personal essay: While my seed sentence is fairly vague and unspecific of anything i intend on using it to analyze the many specific and unspecific events where the answer to some questions in my life were right in front of me and because i focused too much of the problem i never found the answer and the moment i stepped back to try focusing on something else the answer came to me and what i have learned from these experiences of frustration.
Jackie Sanita
Seed sentence:
Up until the start of college, I truly believed being able to make all of my own decisions would be a great change. I couldn't wait to be independent. Now that I am finally here and am not being told what to do, I am starting to realize that sometimes it's nice to have parents leading you in the right direction and helping in the decision process. I have realized that in some ways, I took my parents for granted. Although they get annoying, I like having them around. Being in college for only one week has made me appreciate my parents so much more, and everything they have done for me.
Description of essay: My seed sentence talks about how even though parents get controlling, it sometimes is very helpful to have them there to guide you. In my essay I will discuss decisions I've made without them, and will compare them to easier decisions when my parents were there. I will talk about how being at college has made me realize how great my home is and how lucky I am to have a supportive family. I'll discuss how I've been homesick, and how I won't take family for granted anymore. My essay will mainly be about how appreciative of my parents I am, and how I couldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for them.
Adam Schiappa
Seed sentence:
Even through everything that has happened in my life, even at the lowest points, when my friends were either in the hospital or slowly recovering elsewhere, I have managed to gain strength from a single thought. "Things," I would say to my friends and indeed anyone in a rough position many times, "do tend to work out in the end." And while that hasn't been one hundred percent true, it has been enough for me.
Description of essay: I've often had to support my friends through tough time, in many ways. In my essay, I hope to explore the idea that a positive attitude and support can make a difference in people's lives. Not arguing that it will fix everything, per se- but that being there when someone needs you can sometimes be the (literal) difference between life and death. To this end, I'll discuss various friends of mine, mostly from the last few years, who have had to deal with everything from cancer to depression and anxiety disorders.
Carolyn Forney
Seed sentence: Once I thought that it would be easy to learn how to scuba dive, but then I realized all the danger and preparations you have to do in order to be safe, and now I understand the difficulty of something cannot be determined with a glance.
Description of essay: If you ever watch a TV show like discovery or Deep Sea Detectives scuba diving looks simple. Television often makes skills, and techniques look easy. There is a lot more to it than that. Safety is a very big issue when diving as even a small malfunction of equipment could lead to death. Looking back at the time when I was 13 I thought I should try to learn diving because my dad was a diver and I thought it would be fun, and simple to learn. You can’t determine the difficulty of something without experiencing it yourself. I intend to discuss this, my experience learning these types of techniques when I was 13 in a class of older students, and about how I also learned it was important to be prepared.
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After 9/5
Brian Clayton
Seed Sentence: Looking back at my mom's diagnosis of breast cancer, I realize now that it would have been wise of me to openly embrace the complex new set of challenges rather than to get hung up trying to understand the scenario. Don't understand - experience.
Description of Essay: In this personal essay I plan on examining the way unexpected crisis can effect one's perception of reality. I plan on exploring many aspects of the cancer experience, both the predictable and the unpredictable. Through evidence and accounts of personal experience I plan on conveying the theme that staying positive is the most important part of coping with the unexplainable.
Dillon Scaduto
Seed Sentence: At the age of eight I was told I had a Tourette's Syndrome, a lifelong condition. This news allowed me to see the world through a different perspective.
Description: In this essay I intend to describe the struggle of having Tourette’s Syndrome and how it has changed my view of world today. I also want to emulate the different coping strategies and their affect on my relationships.
Naim Ahmed
Seed Sentence: For most of my life my father has held my hand and sheltered me from the world. I felt protected but uneducated. He played on the field while I sat on the bench. By always being on the sideline, I never felt any dangers or obstacles and so when he went through open heart surgery I had no idea what to do. I panicked. I realized that if I lose him my world would be ruined. My mother would have to sell our house and I would have to drop out of high school to support my family. Thank fully, my father’s surgery was a success but I realized through his ordeal that he has to stop holding my hand. He has to let me go to let me develop as an adult.
Description: I will explore the changes in my relationship between my father and I and how I now have to take a stronger leadership role in my family. I will talk about the day he went in for surgery and all the stresses that went through my mind. I will also discuss how I changed for the better and how at one point all teenagers have to stop acting like children and work towards becoming adults. My essay should end with me changing from a naive teen to a more mature young adult who can better cope with life's obstacles.
Reza Hedayati
It seemed like a good idea, to throw a house party in my house when my parents were away for the weekend, but after realizing my laptop had been stolen, my outdoor lights smashed and the sanctuary of my home deformed with sight of spilt beer, empty cans and moved furniture, I felt violated and i didn't know where to turn to to resolve my crisis.
In my personal essay I will discuss the various effects of the party on me and my family, my friends, and myself. I will go through the pros and cons, analyze the night and what I learned from it. I will also explore myself to see how it has changed me and my decisions thereafter.
Gene DeMaio
During grammar school I was sheltered from the world, my decisions were made for me and many aspects of the world were kept from me. As I made the leap to high school and then college I was almost entirely on my own allowing me to develop my own unique view on life and the world.
Description : In my essay I will describe how the initial feeling of shell shock I experiened as I began high school contributed to my growth as an adult. I will also reflect upon the various experiences during my independent life that altered my views of the world.
