Please, evaluate my essay to help me correct it. I'm sending it to top colleges, so I'm very nervous.
-- If life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic!
Eastern Europe has been holding on to the same schemes of teaching for years; learning by rote the ready-made solutions and aim for the "perfect student" model. They are effective for the great majority of students, but there is a price - low tolerance for a minority of pupils maladjusted to the scheme.
My primary school friend, Maksymilian, was gifted with an exceptional mathematical brilliance - nonetheless every time he took part in a competition, he failed. His answers were always correct, but not the method of their solving - an unusual way of thinking excluded his chances.
Years later my peer Zofia repeated the class. With her fantastic memory her knowledge surpassed that of elder colleagues; however, she could not comply with the requirements of evaluation - systematic notes, organization and focus. Her abilities were beside the point.
Most severely the scheme punished Emilia, who on the scored such a weak result Matura in literature, that university was beyond her reach. Alarming is that Emilia, as a writer, had published two books before her graduation; she just work too slow to fit in the time set for the examination.
Was their otherness the source of the problem? By no means - its core was an incomprehension of their uncommon way of learning. Maksymilian, Zofia and Emilia are dyslexics - same as me - the word-blind children that face underestimation through entire education.
My schooling was comedy of errors. Whenever I solved the task in the wrong, according to teachers, way, it was seen as a deliberate insubordination. By concentration difficulty they were convinced I just did not try. Too short time for finishing tests resulted in poor grades. Therefore, when burying myself in natural science books - and finding a real passion inside them - I expressed a juvenile dream: "I want to be a scientist!", my teachers were shaking their heads with disapproval.
"May this single weakness be the wall standing on my aspirations way?" The authority of teachers in primary school is absolute, and their statement was clear: I did not fit in, and that made me stupid So whenever I saw my future-self in my mind, in a laboratory coat and goggles, solving riddles of the universe serious doubts overcame me.
Until I delved into the biographies of groundbreaking physicists of the last centuries. Some of them may seem surprising: "James Maxwell suffered from dyslexia? How is that possible? And Michael Faraday also ... as well as Nikola Tesla, and even Einstein! But it means that ..."
Then I saw the other, surprisingly bright side of dyslexia - lateral reasoning, love for complexity, excel at three-dimensional problem solving and more than anything passionate curiosity. If those remarkable individuals managed to overcome their limitations and turn them into the power of change that shaped modern science, how could I just give up?
It took me a long time, a lot of hard work and perseverance to convince myself, and than others, that this aspect of me is not an obstacle, but on the contrary - my chance. I started to work independently, in my very own way, with the help of those teachers, who have seen a chance for me; finally take part in projects and competitions in which the non-schematic solutions were rewarded, not punished. My world began to change slowly, and each success - either as great as the Presidential Scholarship, or small one, like praise of the favorite teacher - confirmed my belief that my way towards studying physics just begin.
Dyslexia still remains a weakness which any word-blind should constantly work on. And remain vigilant against anything he will encounter as its result. But I wish for him to never doubt that he can make it through; to keep in mind that he can become great not despite dyslexia, but because of that.
--I am not native, so I could make mistakes. I also don't know american mentality well - I think my essay may sound exalted and lofty. The problem is that I am such person - exalted and lofty - and writing in a down-to-earth style is very difficult for me.
--Also I'm not sure which topic should it be. :D There are two that fit somehow:
1. Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
2. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
Which one will be better?
