College Admissions Essay: Who Am I?

The question “who am I?” is one that most of us ask ourselves at some point in our lives. We try to understand who we are and to know what purpose we have. I personally have asked myself this question multiple times throughout my life. If someone were to ask me to describe myself, I would have given a different answer depending on the time of my life. As an 8 year old, I would’ve answered that I am a friendly person who likes to watch movies about superheroes. As a 16 year old, I would’ve answered that I am someone who wants to meet people and have many friends and to be popular at school. As an 18 year old, I would’ve answered that I want to be accepted into university and pursue my dream of being a psychologist to help children. And now,

For the most part of my life, I had lived in a place where I never truly felt myself. I had gone to a school with many students of European heritage and for the longest time, I was one of the only students whose parents were from Sri Lanka. I was embarrassed about my culture and tried to fit in with others by simply ignoring a part of myself that was different from others. I would always feel uncomfortable telling people where my parents were from, what language I spoke and why my name sounded so different. But, this all changed when I started attending another highschool in the ninth grade. I was surprised that the majority of the students in this new school were actually of South Asian decent. I was finally able to talk speak in a language I had only been speaking with my parents. I could talk about the food, the movies, the music that I grew up with at home and share all of this with others, without feeling different. Although I had friends in my previous schools, I did not feel as though I could make a connection with them in terms of culture. Not only have I come to accept identity as a Sri Lankan, I have now come to love my culture. I am no longer ashamed of telling people where I am from. When someone asks me where I am from, I do not tell them that my parents are Sri-Lankan but I am Canadian. I tell them I am a Sri-Lankan who was born in Canada. I no longer feel like I

My mother would always tell me I was a great student when I was younger. I would get good grades, help my peers and be respectful towards the teachers. This began to change as I became a teenager. Like many other teenagers in highschool, I didn’t worry much about my grades. Instead, I spent time hanging out with friends, crushing on boys and avoiding thinking about the future as much as possible. I knew that if I started focusing on what I wanted to be in the future, I would realize how bad my grades were and I would start to stress and worry. In my last year of highschool, I became a little more serious about school since I realized this was my only chance to boost up my grades to get accepted into the program I wanted, in the Cegep of my choice. The effort I put in my last year had payed off. But once I was in Cegep, the cycle had begun once again, until I found a different group of friends. Many people say the people you choose to surround yourself with can have an immense influence on you. I did not realize the truth behind this until I stopped socializing with people who had a bad influence on me. Instead, I began surrounding myself with positive people who not only cared about school, but also had goals and ambitions for what they wanted to achieve in the future. As a 16 year old, I couldn’t fathom the possibility of going to well known university such as McGill. However,