Here is my essay for my Rice application. The exact promt is - The quality of Rice's academic life and the Residential College System are heavily influenced by the unique life experiences and cultural traditions each student brings. What perspective do you feel that you will contribute to life at Rice? (Most applicants are able to respond successfully in two to three double-spaced pages.)
I have noticed, throughout the years, that my siblings and I have a very different attitudes towards learning than most people. We would listen to our friends talk about how much they hated school, and how they hated their teachers, and how they couldn't wait till they were out of school, and we would look at each other, confused. We loved school, and people wouldn't believe us when we said so.
My siblings and I have been homeschooled our entire lives, and to us, school wasn't a chore, school was life. We would practice math while designing a bookshelf with our dad, have impromptu biology lessons with our mom after finding a strange bug in our backyard, and get real-world perspectives on history while sitting on our neighbors porch, listening to him tell stories of being a white man during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. While some of our schooling was done at a desk with a textbook, most or it was done in everyday life. We didn't had our love of learning beaten out of us with boring classes and endless desks.
Homeschooling us gave us the freedom to have our curriculum's custom-fitted to each of our strengths and interests. I have always loved reading, so many of my "classes" involved me sitting curled up in a chair, reading about certain subjects. I would sit and read plays by Shakespere for hours, or books on philosophy books by Carl Sagan, or books on chemistry by Oliver Sacks. One of my nicknames growing up was "Miss Britannica" because one of my friends arrived at our house to find me sitting with Britannica's stacked around me, reading away. I can think back on many hours happily spent absorbed in the worlds of great books.
It seems like so many of my friends have such a bad stigma attached to school that they shut down their brains to anything even vaguely related to learning outside of the classroom. My friend would ask why I was going to the library to research a subject on a Saturday, and would be shocked when I told her that no, it wasn't for school, it was just because I was interested in the subject. Growing up, we always had a lot of input into shaping our curriculum, and we were encouraged to study things we were interested in. It always shocked me that people viewed studying as something you had to be forced to do. I studied because I was genuinely interested in what I was learning.
This perspective is what I will bring to Rice university. I am a proud homeschooler, but now this means so much more than just being different. It means I am an independent thinker and a voracious reader. It means I am a teacher to myself. It means I view learning as a lifelong activity. I'm grateful for my background in homeschooling, and what it has taught me. Homeschooling has given me a valuable mindset, one that I will want to keep for the rest of my life.
What do you all think?
I think I might need to make it a bit longer, (I think I have about a page and a half right now) even though the "two to three double spaced pages" is more of a suggestion then a rule, right?
Any comments are greatly appreciated. :)
We would listen to our friends talk about how much they hated school, and how they hated their teachers, and how they couldn't wait till they were out of school, and we would look at each other, confused. -- This is a run-on .
As I read your essay, I stopped at this sentence:
One of my nicknames growing up was "Miss Britannica" because one of my friends arrived at our house to find me sitting with Britannica's stacked around me, reading away.
Using the word because lost connection to what you are saying. Don't tell them why, SHOW THEM and by eliminating the word because, you can achieve this.
This perspective is what I will bring to Rice university -- lost touch, again.
The Rice admissions office know that your subject is coherent to the chosen topic. You do not need to tell them.
Lastly, the last few sentences of the last paragraph sounds awkward because of the repetition of the word "means" --maybe you can change it up?
Overall, your essay is excellent. Good, unique description of the experience of "homeschooling." This essay keeps the reader interested (:
Good luck!
