<p>Here are the two UC essays I've submitted. Please tell me what you think of them.</p>
<p>First one: Written Reality</p>
<p>My hometown is suburbia, crowded with oak trees in a bowl surrounded by mountains. The people and objects that I have spent time with have been instrumental in my way of taking on work. My main goal now is to attend college and earn a degree. If it were not for my teacher, brother, and my books, I would not be pursuing my dream. My other desire is to become a writer and to contribute my own ideas through literature.
During my childhood and adolescence, my brother Jeremy has guided me - through control and encouragement. I would pressure him into answering my questions for school, and he would hand me a glossary in response. This seldom worked well until high school, when he took the initiative and plopped me on a sofa with a copy of "Of Mice and Men. Through his quick glances and questions, he made sure that I was reading not for his sake, but to comprehend the machinations behind the story. Never before had an activity that I despised grown on me so fast. It was through his discipline that I was able to focus not just on books, but also in school.
As I channeled my mind into the many subjects, I began to befriend my English teacher, Ms. Halpert. Her teaching felt closer than others, as she could connect nostalgic books such as "Yertle the Turtle" with "Lord of the Flies." With this familiarity of unrecognized literature, reading became one of my most comfortable pastimes. The class became less a period and more a place to unwind the ideas my teacher, my novels, and I developed onto paper. It was at that moment that I began to look towards writing as a career.
Even after freshman year I continued to read and write. Eventually, like the stories themselves, I took note of common symbols in my everyday life. Whenever I encountered a flower, I thought of innocence. If I saw a snake, "treachery" would come to mind. My favorite activities then felt like I was reflecting on reality, not just on a tale, and I could then approach issues with the appropriate ideas.
Through concentration from my brother, the connections to my teachers and the many themes I have learned from books, I have been moved to apply to college so that I may offer my ideas to everyone.</p>
<p>Second one: Dealing with Autism</p>
<p>Many times throughout my life I have struggled to understand what other people have said on a daily basis. Having high functioning autism caused me to miscommunicate what I was trying to say.
However, because of my diagnosis, I have worked hard to improve communication skills and to develop into someone whom I can accept. By carrying out different methods of learning, I continue to cope with my impairments while I keep on reaching out and collaborating with others.
If anything, school was a maze of overgrown thorns to me. Directions for problem solving in class could not be more indecipherable, as wrong answers bruised my grades and left more confusion about the course. Most of the issues were due to the teachers fast pace and the information I lost while falling behind. After realizing that I needed to take notes to remember information from class, I became more agitated, since I found the process to be dull. So I integrated schoolwork with videos and puzzles, allowing myself to learn and play simultaneously. Later on, during lectures, I would picture myself as a wanderer who must retrieve what is missing. Not only had I converted subjects such as math into something amusing, but I also created a routine which improved my learning.
Communicating and reciprocating with others was also a serious issue for me. Normally I would watch others and observe how they would interact; then I would attempt to behave similarly, only to receive weird glances. To be fair, I should have known that randomly interrupting a conversation is rude; but there were moments when there was no other option. Eventually, I found a niche of people who did not mind these interjections, and found, through their banter, the way to speak appropriately to new acquaintances. I could then articulate my points to other individuals respectfully. As a result, my relationships transformed from reliance on others to reciprocating their thoughts and feelings with mine.
By tackling my shortcomings in school and socialization head-on, I vigilantly deal with this burden while handling other obligations with friends and classmates. Not only do I adapt to change when new tasks arise, but I also form newer bonds so that I may help others.</p>