The following student essay was submitted to highly
selective colleges and universities.
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“Hey chink! Yo, nip! Hey Wang! What’s up, Charlie Chan?”
While the other kids were called by their given names, my friends greeted me by
calling me chink, nip, wang, or Charlie Chan. Throughout elementary school, I
never lived a week without being called one of those slang names indicating my
ethnic origin. Each time I heard the
racial name, the hatred inside me grew. For some bizarre reason I did not hate
the name-calling as much as despised being Korean. Sometimes I wished I were
either white or black or Hispanic and not oriental. Since my parents were
immigrants, The Korean language was naturally spoken around the house. I
refused however to take part in conversations when Korean was spoken. I
disliked being Korean to the extent that I refused to improve my Korean
speaking skills when my parents attempted to help me. In addition, I made fun
of my parents when they tried to speak because they had a distinct accent. At
that age I did not understand how disrespectful I was to my parents. By
humiliating my parents for their accents I was just as bad as those students
who hurt me with ethnic slurs.
Although the ethnic slurs significantly abated in middle
school and almost disappeared in the first two years of high school, the damage
those slurs caused still remained. I started thinking that I was no longer a
Korean. The only times I spoke Korean was when I greeted elders and when they
spoke to me. For a time, I acted just like the children in elementary school. I
laughed at the way Koreans looked and dressed at my church because some of them
appeared ‘fresh off the boat’. I failed to realize that some of those families
were new immigrants and many, as with my family, lacked the money to buy
expensive, brand name clothes. Although my childhood pain from hearing ethnic
slurs still lingered, I associated those people at the church with those names.
As a result, I was reluctant to befriend those children who appeared strange to
me.
Toward the end of my j sophomore year in high school my
parents took notice of the attitude I showed toward Koreans. They expressed an
interest in sending me by myself to Korea to participate in a Korean school for
overseas students. The two-week stay in the school was one of the most
influential experiences in my life. In making friends with other Korean
students and learning about the language and customs, I realized that being
Korean was something of which I should be proud. By being around Korean studens
for two weeks, I found that I was able to live with them and enjoy being with
them too. I was able to apply the information I gained about Korean language
and customs during my stay in Korea whenever I travelled in the country. What I
learned about the language and culture proved to be ore rewarding to me than I
ever imagine.
In reflecting back on my despicable attitude toward Koreans,
the language, and the customs, I feel ashamed that I once disliked my ethnicity
and neglected the leaning of Korean language and culture. I try to speak more
Korean language to my parents at home. I am also very knowledgeable about
Korean customs and traditions. As my dislike of my origin and my indifference
to Korean customs and language changed to pride and enthusiasm, I learned that
being Korean is great. I feel that my two-week stay at the Korean school was the
most influential experience of my life. In discovering my identity, my true
self as a Korean, I feel that I have matured to the extent where I can be proud
to be a Korean.
Questions
Is this an effective essay? Why or why not?
Here are the prompts for the Common Application for the
upcoming year:
• Some students have a
background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe
their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then
please share your story.
• Recount an incident
or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons
did you learn?
• Reflect on a time
when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make
the same decision again?
• Describe a place or
environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience
there, and why is it meaningful to you?
• Discuss an
accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from
childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family
The essay above answers at least 3 of the prompts. Does it demonstrate
what administrators and the Educational Testing Service call ‘grit’?
This essay demonstrates that racism is often practiced against
oneself. Did you know there is a great deal of data to support the effects of
this form of racism? African Americans score lower on tests when asked to
identify themselves by race (And females will score lower on math tests when
asked to identify themselves by gender.)
Should the students who called the writer these names have
been suspended? Why or why not? Do racist comments like this constitute a hate
crime?
Are Asians often exposed to racism in schools?
Do the Ivies practice de facto racism by limiting the
percentage of Asians in their entering class? (See this entry for data to
support this question).
Are some forms of racism in this country tolerated more than
others? If so to whom and by whom?
Thought experiment: compare the essay written by the student
who was admitted to Stanford Medical school with this essay.
The new questions on the common application would not permit
the Stanford student to talk about his academic passions. Should academic passions be a part of the
evaluation of students applying to highly selective undergraduate universities?
If so, why is there no option to do so?
Is love of learning no longer a useful tool in helping to
predict academic success?
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