College Essay # 96

96. Look through old family photos and pull out a few that remind you of important times or significant moments. (Remember that the impact of a moment is what makes it significant. A hike through the woods can sometimes be more significant than a birthday.) Choose one of these "Kodak Moments" to describe and explain its significance to you. Speak about the photograph and your feelings about what you see in it.

When I was a kid, my mother told me, that I was very interested in using the phone. She told me that whenever the phone would ring, I would be the first one to rush to pick up the phone. Though I couldn’t utter words more than a “ga ga” or something of that sort, I was always keen. The people on the other end would laugh knowing that it was me. My mother would rush after me and yell at me, laughing, telling me not to do that next time. I looked at her in amazement and repeated the same thing over and over again. I just wouldn’t listen. I had a thing for talking to people and letting them know that it was me they were talking to. Slowly, after I started talking in words instead of gibberish, my mother taught me how to say hello and how to talk to people. She would teach me, I would repeat after her, but then I’d forget. After a couple of times of being unable to say anything on the phone, she started sitting next to me and guiding me on the phone. Though it was a petty thing to feel happy for, I would love having my mom sit next to me and tell me what to say. For that time being, I would feel like her. I would feel like my mother; sophisticated, cultured, and purely just amazing. It was the best feeling you could possibly ever have, because she was my mother, the greatest.

This picture symbolizes many things. It symbolizes the innocence of a child, it symbolizes the idea of exploring things on your own, but the thing that stands out to me the most in this picture, is my love for my mother. I would always look forward to someone calling only because I loved having my mom sit next to me and play some sort of puppet show. But I loved that my mother was there to guide me, even in something as minimal as talking on the phone. But I’ve always looked forward to my mother’s advice. Of course, there have been some mother-daughter conflicts, but this picture always reminds me of how much I looked forward to my mother’s advice, and how much I appreciated her. This picture reminds me of how great my mother is and how much she means to me. This picture shows me that I should never take her for granted and that I should always value her … just in case I wasn’t able to see that myself. Even though this picture is of a little Spreeha, it tells me and now even you, the relationship my mother and I have.

College Essay # 95 - Notre Dame

95. Select a technological innovation of this century and discuss its effects on your family, local community or nation. (Notre Dame)

I see the sleek rectangle lying on my table. I can feel the coldness the metal radiates. I can see the applications springing in my face telling me, “Use it. Use it. Use it.” I can see the silver cover sparkling at my direction telling me, “I was totally worth it.” Then she receives a call. She’s in use for hours at a time talking about the latest gossip, the latest trends, and whose friends with whom. This happens everyday and at least a couple of times daily. Yes, my friends, this is the Iphone.

Recently, my sister acquired the Iphone. She was ecstatic. She went and bought the cover, she got the phone unlocked, and then she started downloading different Apps … everyday. She had around ten-downloaded daily. With my sister’s newfound possession, I was the only one in my family who didn’t have the Iphone. My parents bought one for themselves last year and my sister got one just recently. I watch them use it. I feel jealous at times. I do have the I-touch but there’s no gadget that can be as great as the Iphone, well at least not in my mind anyways. Though I feel jealous, I feel freer than the rest of my family. They seem to be completely bogged down with this new innovation. But who can blame them? There are so many new things that keep coming up that you can’t resist yourself. You need to keep updating the software in order to get the new apps. Without the new apps you feel behind than the rest of the world. Without being part of the rest of the world, you don’t feel part of the world. Though this logic may be stupid and nonsensical, I think that people are more engrossed in technology because they don’t want to feel left out.

So, if I have to name one technological innovation that has affected my family, I would definitely say that it would be the Iphone. I only say this because there have been many times when we’ve held a conversation as a family; one person is always on their Iphone. I know that it’s a great technology to keep up with the things happening in the world, but it doesn’t mean that you have to be on it ALL the time … I literally mean 24/7. I am one that doesn’t appreciate it when people are distracted when holding a conversation with me. I don’t want people to fidget when they are talking to me. There are times when you should just let go of the innovations, and just talk, in an old fashioned manner

College Essay # 180

180. If you could ban anything in the world, what would it be and why?

Returning home to Kathmandu after spending a few months in school, I’ve noticed many changes in the city. Some were good changes and some were bad. But there was one thing that really caught my attention. While driving down the streets of Kathmandu, I’ve really noticed an increase in number of “holy images.” I’ve noticed many posters stuck on building walls next to sidewalks. Though many Nepalese are religious and pious, I thought it was a bit peculiar to have such a poster hanging close to a filthy, smelly sidewalk. I noticed this not in one place, but many places. The unusual thing was that, the posters were put in places where a lot of people pass by on a daily basis. I asked my parents why this was so, and they explained that people started putting pictures of our Hindu deities in order to stop people from urinating on the streets and throwing garbage near the sidewalks. Like I told you, Nepalese are very religious people. If garbage was thrown near God, or someone urinated near God, it was considered a sin and would not be accepted or tolerated.

Though this was a very clever idea to stop trash from being thrown on the streets and from people urinating wherever they feel like, it saddens me that we have to use the idea of religion and God to stop man from committing horrible crimes like these. Don’t humans have common sense? Don’t they know that doing these things helps no one? They only harm the environment and make people uncomfortable … especially with the smell. So if I had to choose something to ban in the world, it would be a race between throwing garbage on the streets and urinating everywhere. But I feel that it is more important to look at the environmental aspect than something that merely disturbs us. I’m not saying that urinating on the streets should be allowed, I’m just saying that throwing garbage on the streets is a much more serious crime.

The garbage left on the streets will not be picked up for many days, even weeks. The smell disturbs passer bys and is just not something that anyone needs to smell. I don’t think anyone has committed such a crime to deserve smelling rotten garbage. But health concerns are involved as well. Bacteria accumulate and diseases can easily be spread. Many can get sick and those in contact will be affected as well. Banning garbage does harm to no one anyone and should not be tolerated; instead it should be banned.

College Essay # 215

215. A disappointment you've experienced.

Living in a country filled with poverty, my family and I have come across a lot of little kids begging on the streets. They either try to sell us some postcards or they just plainly beg for money. Most of the time we’ve been really conformed to turn the other way, but there are times when you give in and try to help the other person out. We’ve been taught that giving money to little kids only gives him or her another reason to go buy drugs and get high. Many times, we’ve seen kids holding old, dirty plastic bags sniffing the contents within. Though, we don’t know exactly what is in those plastic bags, we can pretty much guess. Today, however, was different.

A little girl approached my mother, my sister, and I with a pile of postcards. We instantly knew what she wanted. She was wearing an old, almost yellowed salwar kameez and I instantly felt she was different from the rest of the kids down the infamous area, Thamel, where all the kids huddled together and sniffed plastic bags. She did not look rowdy nor did she insist that we buy something. She merely asked us whether we wanted to buy her postcards. When my mother asked how much she replied, “ten rupees.” While contemplating on whether the money should be given to her or not, a group of guys walked past us. But the problem was, they didn’t JUST walk past us. The guy in the middle extended his arm and slapped the girl hard on the head. I looked at him, bewildered, while he just walked away, as though it was something that he did on a regular basis … hit poor, underprivileged children. Still shocked, I watched my mother take out a ten-rupee note and hand it to that girl. I watched the exchange. But before the girl took the money, she wiped her tear stricken face. We walked away. My sister and I turned around to look and see what that girl was going to do. I was expecting her to stare at the newfound money that she got, but instead, I saw that little girl, not older than six years old, against a wall, covering her face and crying. Everyone walked past as though nothing was wrong.

I felt guilty. I wanted to do something, but what could we possibly do? We tried out best to help her out. There are always things in the news, which inform us that foreigners come into third world countries and help out the poor. They build orphanages, they open NGOs … they try their best to reduce poverty as much as they can. The disappointment I face is that these foreigners try their best to rid poverty in others’ countries but the people of Nepal don’t seem to care about anything. They complain about the kids sniffing drugs, they complain about the homeless lying on the foot wide sidewalk giving them no space to walk and they complain about being followed by beggars asking for money. I am disappointed that people of this country complain about endless things but don’t have the heart and to reach out and do something.

College Essay # 120

120. Tell about the most unforgettable experience you've ever had.

In the summer of 2005, my family had decided that we needed to experience everything American. We had already been in the country for around a year and a half, and we hadn’t really gone to see many places that categorized America as everyone sees it. So, we headed from our little home in Syracuse (in upstate New York) and made our way down to Iowa first. My parents were able to convince my aunt and uncle to join us on the family trip. They agreed, and we were on our way to make a trip across the country. The thought of that familial love is all a bit overwhelming now if I think about it. But I’ve got to say, the whole trip blew my mind away. We visited the Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Hoover Dam, the Las Vegas Strip (and enjoyed every minute of that 116 degree Fahrenheit heat), and so on and so forth. Though we did a lot of adventure-y type things like hiking and rafting and rock climbing, it was a great trip. Being a kid, I would always ask the person in the driver’s seat to honk the horn because it seemed like no one in America ever honked the horn. Maybe they did, but I had never heard it until I reached Vegas. It was amazing to see the vastness of the rocks, to feel the rush of the Colorado River, the excitement when you feel your fishing line tugging at you, and even to feel like you were going to faint in the excruciating heat.

But there was one thing that I will always remember and something that I will always keep close to my heart. Being the oldest in my family, my father had always pushed me to do sports and become strong. When I was younger, he put me in karate, in swimming, in soccer, and even in tennis. I was that son that he never had. But at heart, I was still a girl. Certain things scared me and certain things that boys did didn’t entertain me. Some times I wanted to just play with Barbie dolls and braid my hair.

We reached the Grand Canyon pretty far in our journey cross-country. We spent a couple of day looking at different places in the canyon. I remember seeing a huge boulder balancing on a sharp point on a 30 foot tall triangular rock, I remember seeing the haziness deep in the canyons, and then I remember seeing a huge face of what looked like a mountain … and it was completely open. That mountain-side-thing was called the Window. It was obvious of course. It looked like a window, a more oval window, but definitely a window. My father called me over and asked me to look at the top right hand corner of that “window.” I didn’t understand what he was telling me to look at until I really saw what he wanted me to do. I saw many people climbing up to that corner and going somewhere where a person from below couldn’t see. You “turned” some sort of corner and you disappeared … poof. First I thought it was some place where you bungee jump from or something, but I realized that it was a place where people take pictures. A tiny, slab of rock about the size of your torso where people take pictures. What kind of adventure is that? I didn’t understand why people wanted to risk their lives to take a stupid picture with something called the “Window.” It was pathetic and lame, or so I thought. My dad asked me to come and join him to take a picture. I protested a couple of times but my dad insisted. He told me that it would be the most unforgettable experience I would ever have. When I climbed up to that top right hand corner and put my right foot out on that slab, I realized that it WAS the most unforgettable experience.

My dad asked me to face him and smile. I did, but I sat there for a couple of minutes and I took that moment in. I remember seeing everything, I felt like I was watching the sky and earth meet. I could see so far out. I remember feeling insignificant and I remember feeling like everything in the world, all my problems were so small compared to what the eye can see. I remember promising myself never to back down from something that challenges you, because in the end, you will realize that you are much stronger than you think (corny as it is :p).

College Essay # 183

183. Do you think that you have the qualifications of a good parent? Discuss.

A couple of months ago, I saw one of my old elementary school friend’s pictures on Facebook. Her stomach was huge. First I though that she had just gotten really fat, but when I looked closer, I could see that she was a pregnant woman awaiting her child’s birth. Yes, many of you must be shocked. She is a 16-year-old girl and she is pregnant. No, her boyfriend who impregnated her hasn’t left her, and yes she HAS a job and she IS attending school. Many of you may look at her with disgust, and many of you may judge her, but who are we really to judge her? In fact, I’m very proud to say that I have a friend who is that strong and who is able to get through life with her head held high. I’m sure like many young teenage mothers, she never planned on becoming pregnant and having a child, but there is nothing she can do about it now. She is pregnant, and she does have a child to take care of.

I recently discovered that she has delivered her baby, and she’s very happy and content. Whilst talking to her, I asked her how the new mother thing was working out for her. She explained that she was tired all the time and her baby daughter was always keeping her awake with her screaming and crying, but all in all, she explained that she was extremely happy. I asked her about school and about work, and she told me that everything was good. She said even with everything going on, her grades were good and she wasn’t failing anything, and her work was work, she was doing the job and was getting paid; there was nothing more to that. I looked at her and thought to myself. She definitely DOES have the qualifications of a good parent. Though her circumstance has brought her to this point, she has everything a child needs from his or her parent. She is organized, she is practical, she knows she needs to take care of her family, she is able to support her daughter and make sure she is able to finish school and get an even better job. She knows that her daughter means the world to her and she needs to protect her. She values everything is has and doesn’t neglect her daughter for a second. While she was talking to me, her daughter was screaming and the minute she uttered a noise, my friend would run to her and calm her down. Though, it took some time, she would wait until her daughter was calm and got what she wanted. This happed around 10 times in a 15-minute conversation. Hats off to her, she definitely has what it takes. 

Whereas for me, I don’t think that I have the qualifications of being a good parent. I only think about the goals in my life. I haven’t had to think about anyone else’s ever. I am not patient with kids, and I don’t like it when they scream and yell. I get myself into drama from time to time. I’m unable to really handle my emotions at all times. I need to be grounded and need to get back to reality. I dream too much. I worry about only my grades and the things happening in my life. Sometimes I forget to take a step back and think about my loved ones. I’m too engrossed in my own life. Though I’m the more responsible one among my friends, I often forget where I’ve kept things. I get stressed very quickly and that makes me jumpy, agitated, and angry with those who cross my path. I am not ready to have a child, and if I was, I would definitely not be able to handle myself, let alone a child. 

Parents are those who think about their kids first. Parents are those that try to teach their kids good values and good etiquette and are grounded. Parents are those that don’t show their stresses to their kids and try to handle things without letting the kid know that there is a problem. Parents are those that love their children unconditionally and hold nothing against them. Parents are those that take care of their children but are able to take care of themselves as well. Parents are those that know their responsibilities and try their level best to fulfill them. Parents are those who are practical and think about reality rather than dreaming. Most of all, parents are those that think about others and are less concerned about their lives.

I seem to be the complete opposite of those things. I would be unable to raise a child at this age, I don’t know how my friend is doing it, but she is doing it. I am not set to be a good parent as of right now … and I don’t think I will be for a while.

College Essay # 133

French novelist Anatole France wrote: "An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't." What don't you know? (Brown) .

1.     I don’t know what is going to be going on in my life in the next 10 years.

2.     I don’t know why my Ipod battery keeps dying so fast on me.

3.     I don’t know why something bad always happens when everything seems to be going in the right direction.

4.     I don’t know why people backstab behind my back and then come and apologize as though they didn’t think it would hurt me.

5.     I don’t know why bad things happen to good people.

6.     I don’t know why the sky is blue.

7.     I don’t know why people that our family knows seems to be dying left and right.

8.     I don’t know why grandfather seems so upset these days.

9.     I don’t know how my neighbors can spend such a long time decorating their pagoda.

10.   I don’t know why women can’t accept their aging gracefully and instead use “Gold Radiance” or “Total Repair 7” to cover up their age.

11.   I don’t know why people can’t accept themselves the way they are.

12.   I don’t know why Woodstock doesn’t just take everyone down to Delhi on Going Down Day by train.

13.   I don’t know why it’s unusually cold in Nepal this year (I do have a hunch though).

14.   I don’t know why I feel like there’s no privacy anywhere you go in the world.

15.   I don’t know how some people don’t feel cold while I’m freezing my butt off.

16.   I don’t know how it is so easy for people to say they will do something when the next person tells them not to do that exact same thing.

17.   I don’t know how people find reading and writing boring.

18.   I don’t know what makes gold so much more attractive than silver.

19.   I don’t know why people design clothes for fashion shows; it doesn’t seem like people wear those kinds of clothing on a daily basis and isn’t the point of making clothes to sell it?

20.   I don’t know why my sister needs SO MANY pairs of shoes when she already has like 20 pairs.

21.   I don’t know how people can eat so much and then puke it all out. It’s just disgusting.

22.   I don’t know why people get depressed. Life is too short and there are too many things in the world that can make people happy.

23.   I don’t know why in many countries, having a mental disorder is worse than committing a crime.

24.   I don’t know whether I’m going to end up with a zero for my first semester grade in English, because I was unable to keep up with my blogs for a week.

25.   I don’t know when my family and I are going to move into our new house.

26.   I don’t know whether I’m ever going to see snow in Nepal.

27.   I don’t know why clouds weren’t something we could just sit on and float around. I only wish.

28.   I don’t know what I’m going to eat for lunch today.

29.   I don’t know how I’m going to do in school this semester.

30.   I don’t know whether I want to go to school this semester. Home is so relaxing.