<p>Hey guys, thought I'd join the trend of people putting up their essays now :P Oh and there is a thread with basically the same name in the 'What Are My Chances?' forum, I accidentally posted it there first.. </p>
<p>This is my essay for USC. I haven't heard back yet, and wont for another month+, but I'll hope for the best </p>
<p>I dont know if it's great or anything, but I liked it and I hope you will too, you are more than welcome to comment/insult/praise or draw inspiration from it. :P</p>
<p>Q:
The 18th century French philosopher Denis Diderot said, Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things. Describe one of your passions and reflect on how it has contributed to your personal growth.</p>
<p>A:
During my whole life, soccer has been one of the fundamental building blocks of both my life and my personality. Being passionate about it barely even begins to describe my feelings toward it. For most of my childhood soccer was basically everything in my life. I lived it, breathed it, wished it, dreamt it and played it. I still think about it every day, whether I go to the park with some friends, kick a ball around the living room or just remember all the great summers I've had with my best friends while playing soccer, it is always there in the back of my head.</p>
<p>Growing up in Sweden, soccer not only played a large role in my life, but also in the whole nations. I can still vividly remember the hysteria and sheer ecstasy in 1994 when the Swedish National Soccer Team came home from the World Cup having won the bronze and on lazy Sunday afternoons lying in the grass staring at the sky, I still dream myself back to that day. I am forever thankful for everything it has done for my life and I greatly credit it for making me who I am today.</p>
<p>Because of soccer, I learned to never give up. As a kid I thought it meant to just keep chasing the ball, dont let anyone else take it, but with time I have realized that it means so much more. Whether it means to keep working hard in a class at school even if you dont think youll do well, or to keep pursuing a girl, even if she initially seems uninterested, I have learnt that if I never give up, I will eventually get my way and in time that has become one of my main philosophies and mottos in life. I dont give up, ever.</p>
<p>I also learnt the importance of hard work, discipline and teamwork. I know many things can teach you that, from the army to football, but I can assure you that few things do that like running 10 miles a day from November to February, in the freezing cold and several feet of snow. Though they may have been a pain and at times I felt like just giving up and collapsing, telling my coach he could go to where the sun dont shine, I never gave up and thanks to the strong comradeship with my best friends and teammates, we all got through it, and it made us stronger. It made us great. </p>
<p>Because of it I became more than just a regular player, and before the age of 10 I had already been offered positions in some of Stockholms best and most prestigious teams, namely AIK, Djurgårdens IF and Brommapojkarna. I never did accept though, because I always knew that even though I was talented, it was my team that made me great. </p>
<p>Being the team captain also taught me a lot of things, and because I also went to school with my teammates, I was not only the captain on the soccer field, I was our captain everywhere. I became the person my teammates could talk to about anything and I would always try to the best of my ability to help them with anything from soccer to schoolwork and from girls to beating the last boss in Diablo II. It taught me not only leadership but also compassion and since then I have always been happier in positions of leadership than those where I would idly follow others and though I dont steal the spotlight from others, I do like to have my $.02 heard.</p>
<p>Soccer is without a doubt one of the greatest things that have ever happened to me and it has made such a big difference to my life. I went from being that shy brown kid with the weird name, to the optimistic, passionate and extrovert one I am today. Not a day goes by that I dont think of it and all the nostalgic memories of tournament wins, travel with my teammates and the sing-along of Lion King songs in the showers post-practice bring tears to my eyes.</p>
<p>I love this game.</p>
<p>This is for TRANSFER btw.</p>
<p>I accompanied this with ca. 3.55 GPA(i know, it's low, but I explained it)
A fair bunch of EC's that took up A LOT of time and showed leadership and compassion as well as hard work etc.. basically the same qualities that are in my essay.</p>
and i will be attending!