College Admission Essay

            A basketball covered with teen sweat lands into my hands. It is the last minute of the middle-school basketball championship game and I am the kid that has the opportunity for the last shot of this game. I quickly assess my situation and see my options: play it safe and pass the ball to another teammate or take a risk to make a basket.

            I have not made a single basket in any of my games because I was never an athletic person and I don't like sports as much as my peers do. When I started playing basketball at the beginning of the season, I could barely dribble and the rules of the game were brand new. My parents didn't play or watch sports at all and I had nobody to teach me how to practice but myself. Even my body was not athletic by any sport's standards and my arms were fit more for playing piano than they were for dribbling the ball.

            The odds were against me but I did not let that stop me. I told myself that with enough practice and sheer will I could accomplish more than I ever thought possible at the beginning of the championship. So every night afterschool I practiced my shots in my neighbor's yard.

            Now, at the championship game, I finally have my chance. I focus on the basketball hoop and throw the ball towards it with every bit of strength in me. Then, as the ball is in midflight, the referee blows his whistle and shouts "Travel!" I take my eyes off the ball to look at him and incredulously exclaim, "What?"

            As I complain to the referee, I hear a tremendous sound of applause and cheers coming from the bleachers. I look over there to see my family, friends, and people who knew that I couldn't play well dancing up and down with joy. Some are hugging each other and some are twirling their shirts in the air round and round. At that moment I realize that the ball went through the basket. It was my first basket in the whole season and it doesn't matter that the referee didn't count it. What matters is that the boy who never made a basket showed that with determination he could conquer anything in life.  

            I have determination in everything I do in my life. In my music, there were also things that I had to overcome. For example, I was classically trained on piano since I was five, and knew nothing about playing guitar or drums. But I set out to learn them on my own, and today, I can play both with great skill. In college, I am confident that my determination will stay with me as I embark on a quest for knowledge and improvement.