<p>First the question. Im applying to the University of Florida, andI heard that they automatically accept the top 5% students of their class? I dont know if thats true, but if it is...........GREAT! Could anyone post a confirmation or link for me.....so I can finally get this quistion answered? </p>
<p>Also.....I was wondering if this was a good essay for this question.</p>
<p>How will your individual background, experiences and personal identity influence your educational pursuits and your contributions to the campus community at the University of Florida?</p>
<p>Dozens of people were running past me, all of them strangers. Children were clinging close to their parents without a clue in the world. Many were hugging and kissing, while others were shouting. I had never seen these kinds of people before. They had distinctively different features. I saw people with green, blue, brown eyes. Every one of them came in different sizes with brown or even yellow hair. A large sweaty man ran by me and dropped a large case. He quickly picked it up and ran frantically towards a corridor. The lights around me flashed unknown words that I had never seen. A large voice came out of machines announcing an unusual message. I hung onto my brother and grabbed his right hand tightly. I was four years old and my family had just arrived in the United States.
For as long as I can remember, my family was always hardworking and dedicated. Before my family immigrated to the United States in 1995, we lived in Vietnam. Post war scars left Vietnam crippled and filled with poverty. We desperately needed a new life; a new life that would fulfill not only our dreams of freedom, but also our dreams of financial security and a chance for a top-notch education.
After immigrating to America, my family was confused about what to do in a new environment. Eventually, my fifty-year-old parents and twenty-year brother acquired minimum wage jobs because of their incomplete education. Everyday after work they would come home tired, broken down, and depressed from their jobs. One day, after school I asked my older brother what any puzzled eight year old would ask. I asked him why he worked at that job if it made him so unhappy. The response he gave me would change my life. He told me that he was forced to work at that job because he didnt have a chance at a good education like I have right now.
I finally realized the great opportunities in the United States that I was taking for granted. My only job was to work hard and succeed in school. Unlike myself, my brother was obligated to work at a minimum wage job until he was twenty-five years old before he was able to attend college. Seeing my parents and brother work forty to fifty hours a week showed me the importance of an education. It proved to me that without an education, I too could look forward to a minimum wage job.
I was determined to have a new perspective on my future. In a free country such as the United States, education is a given right, unlike the rare opportunities for education in third world countries. With my new mindset, I believe that I will be able to bring my persistence and desire to succeed to the University of Florida. My educational pursuits might change, but whatever I choose to do, I will always strive to be the best. By attending the University of Florida, my ethnic and social backgrounds will add diversity to the campus. I will be able educate others by relating my familys hardships and proving that hard work and dedication ultimately lead to success.</p>