<p>By the time I finally came up with my topic, some of my friends had already finished their essays, and I wondered to myself: has my life really been that empty? I struggled to think of a memory which truly and fully represented me as a person. So, I decided to talk to a friend in order to brainstorm some ideas. After talking for a bit, he told me that I should lie to make my essay better. It was then, ironically, that a possible memory hit me. What could I bring to a school, other than my academic ability and enthusiasm for volunteering? The answer: my honesty.
Lying is the antithesis of what I represent. Ever since I was little, I have always believed that honesty truly is the best policy. When I was three or four years old, my curiosity was in full throttle. My family owned an old Gateway at the time which ran on Windows 98. Everyone in my family used the computer to some extent, and by observing them, I slowly learned how to drag and drop things and do some minor tasks on the computer. Typically someone would be around, either my parents or my brother, to keep an eye on what I was doing; however, one day I was left alone with the computer. As soon as I got up on the chair in front of the computer, I spotted a little icon with colorful objects by its side. I had seen my fellow family members drag and drop numerous objects onto the icon, so I decided to emulate them. I started to haphazardly drag and drop different files and folders onto the little icon, but eventually I got bored. I double clicked on the little icon and it opened up revealing everything that I had dropped into it and then I clicked the delete all button, just like my parents would have. Unbeknownst to me, this action would cause quite the stir within my family. It turned out that that colorful little icon was the recycling bin. Suddenly, my parents turned on the computer to find some essential files missing. Their shock and anger over this began a fast paced pursuit as to who the culprit was. Eventually, their paralyzing gaze fell on me. Even though I was little I knew that this situation could only mean one thing: trouble. I frantically began thinking of a possible way out, but no matter I said I was stuck. However before I could explain my side of the story, my dad explained to me an important lesson, that no matter how enormous the mistake, in the end it is more important to tell the truth and learn from ones mistake rather than lie and hide from the consequences. So, I admitted that I was the one at fault. Needless to say, there were consequences that I had to take responsibility for. I still remember my brother blaming me for deleting Sim City from the computer. However, in the end, despite the consequences, I ended up learning an important life lesson along the way.
Since that day, I have taken my dads lesson to heart. Although being honest does not always lead to an easy way out, I chose to remain honest because it was the right thing to do. Multiple times, my honesty has been tested, but I have always remained true to myself and the lesson. It is because of the lesson that I came to realize that I had to take responsibility for my actions. For example, when I forgot to send out an email during my time as Secretary for the Balbhartiya Temple Youth Committee, I owned up to my mistake. Last year, many kids, even many of my friends, in my Calculus class got previously written tests in order to assure themselves high grades on any tests. I chose not to use any of those tests. It was more difficult to score high on the tests; however, choosing not to use previous tests was part of being honest to myself and others. Being honest to myself case meant that I not only did not use previous tests, but that I also learned the material thoroughly. Just memorizing knowledge and lessons throughout life is not nearly as important as how one applies the knowledge to the real world and in ones life; this is why I did not just memorize my fathers lesson; I lived by it.</p>