2013. 6. 7.

에세이 샘플 3 (국내일반고, GPA 3.9, SAT 1650 (리딩 380), UC Davis, UC Irvine 합격, Rochester 대기자명단)

Prompt #1 (freshman applicants)

Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

When I was growing up, I lived with my great grandmother who was a painter in her days. While looking at her paintings and her art collection, I could see they were beautiful to look at, although I didn’t fully understand what the pieces were saying. Through such exposure to Korean art, I vaguely became aware of the concept of beauty.

I also painted by myself, trying to copy my great grandmother’s work. But as time went by, I started painting my own impressions and feelings that I got from her art pieces. What I enjoyed the most then was getting praised for my work from her. With the praise, she also taught me that painting was not just an act of labor and technical skills, but also a mental activity. She even said that painting was comparable to a highly intellectual activity, which I couldn’t fully understand at the time. It was through these interactions with my great grandmother that I decided to always have art as a part of my life.

During my teenage years, I visited as many exhibitions and art museums as I could. While my friends preferred going to amusement parks with their friends and boyfriends, I went to Insa-dong and Samchung-dong, places in Seoul where many art galleries were located, to appreciate art works and then walk into one of the small street cafes to reflect on art and artists, as well as write notes on my thoughts I acquired that day. Once in a while, I made sure that I attended grand exhibitions at major art facilities such as the Art Center in Seoul, where major art exhibitions of artists like Shagal, Monet, Klimt, and Andy Warhol were held. Through all these activities, I have developed a strong inclination toward studying the meaning of art and beauty in college.

Another interest I have formed was studying the story behind each art work. Just as my great grandmother told me her stories contained in each of her paintings, so I have been curious on why Klimt drew those incomprehensible patterns in expressing sensual love between a man and a woman. Although I may not know the basis for his drawings, I am sure that it has to do with many aspects of his background -- his nationality, ethnicity, religion, or philosophy. And the more I dug into the story, the more I understood the work. Now, when I look at an art piece, I see myself drifting away from the piece, and entering into another window through which I could see the life and thoughts of the artist. In university, I would like to expand my understanding of art by studying art history of the world so that I can understand how the world thinks about art and beauty.

Prompt #2 (all applicants)
Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

“Mommy, since you’re going to buy me these anyways, can I have something else for my birthday? Birthday presents should be something exciting, not something I need every day.”

This is what I said to my mother when she bought me pajamas and socks for my 5th birthday. My mother said she was a bit surprised to hear something like that coming from a 5-year old. Since then, she paid close attention to my words and thoughts, and respected my opinion whenever possible. I think because of her, I was able to develop my distinct personality.

One time in grade school, my teacher gave the class an assignment which was to bring something through which one can express oneself. Some brought papers and crayons to draw themselves and some brought musical instruments to play. I, to everyone’s surprise, made a picture album filled with pictures from my past, a drawing about my future years in middle school and high school, and finally a poem about my life as a mother and grandmother. To the startled teacher and classmates I explained that I wanted to show my friends my past since they had not seen my past and also express my future since nobody knew what my future would be. I didn’t work on my present state because they see me every day. After my explanation, there was a short silence in the classroom. Then my teacher, with a great smile, thanked me for sharing a unique perspective.

Then in high school, I experienced a similar incident. In our music class, we were tested on the song “Memory” from the musical Cats. While many of the students tried their best to mimic opera or musical singers in order to get high scores in technical points, I sang the way I wanted to. As soon as I started singing, there were giggles among my classmates, who pointed fingers at me as if I was making a fool out of myself. I was disturbed by the commotion for a second, wondering if I should continue. But I thought whatever the result may be, I should finish what I had started. When I came back to my seat, some classmates remarked, “Why did you sing like a little kid? It’s supposed to be classical singing!” Just like them, I was really worried about my performance. At the end, however, something shocking happened. When the scores were released, I ended up being the only one with an A+ in the entire school. My music teacher explained that I was the only one with my own color while others were all trying to mimic what they thought the song should sound like.

Throughout my life, I have become firmer in maintaining my own color not only in my expressions through art but also in the way I think. And in whatever I do, I will not give up my unique color. I don’t think that I am special or better than others. I just think that my spectrum of color is as useful as others’ and that I need to keep that spectrum, as many things in life are made possible through the combination of many different colors.

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