Writing: College Application Essays #2 (Common App)

(Note: I realized that a few of my essays are rehashes of previous things I've written, just shortened - like Towards Tomorrow's Dreams, which I posted previously. I will not be posting those here again. Some other essays are different versions of the same concept– my UC essays talk about the same things in the Common App– but I think they're different enough that I can post those twice.)

Prompt: Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

“[The] American system... is founded upon the conception that only through ordered liberty, freedom, and equal opportunity to the individual will his initiative and enterprise spur on the march of progress.” – Herbert Hoover, 1928

Beginning in 1607, immigrants have come to America in search of new wealth, new liberty, or a new life. Through the existence of free land in the West, Americans have formed a deep commitment to the ideals of social mobility and rugged individualism; everyone, and anyone, can succeed through hard work. Such a mindset has created the American Dream: a distinct, unwavering work ethic and optimism not found anywhere else.

However, the problem arises when history has proven that this dream is not attainable for everyone. In the case of many minorities, such as women, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans, the system has worked to continually prevent their success.

For example, the eighty-year battle for female suffrage only succeeded when groups such as the National American Woman Suffrage Association advocated that women are not equal– but only more morally upright than men. Now, campaigns for equal rights are accompanied by calls for the rights to one’s body and equal pay for equal work.   

For African-Americans, while the institution of slavery ended, racism has led to lynchings, Jim Crow laws and, today, issues of police brutality. Especially for the working-class black male, the threat of mass incarceration is real; the school-to-prison pipeline punishes petty criminals and prevents their reintegration back to society.

For Asian-Americans such as myself, while they have settled in America as early as the 16th century, they have been seen as subordinate– a view which only recently has begun to change. As Carlos Bulosan wrote in his memoir, America is in the Heart, “[In the United States, I heard] an angry chorus shouting: ‘Why don’t they ship those monkeys back where they came from?’” Similar patterns continue for all minority groups– Native Americans, Latino Americans, Muslims, and others– through time.

However, despite the fact that time has proven that the American dream only exists for a minority of the majority, it still thrives today. Americans have faith in the institutions that have historically discriminated against them for three centuries. While we have made great strides in such a short period, there is a long way to go before we achieve the goal of the Declaration of Independence: a nation where “all men are created equal... endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

This issue has no perfect solution. For me, I believe that history education is the first step to a progressive society. By looking at the mistakes of the past, we ensure that we do not follow in the same footsteps. The comparisons we can make across time allow us to better understand who we are, and in turn, how we can improve as a collective. We must recognize that while our ancestors were capable of great good, they were also capable of terrible wrongs.

For many Americans today, including my parents– first generation immigrants from rural provinces in the Philippines, history does not stop them. Nor does it stop me. The paradox of the American Dream thrives on the fact that we, as a nation, are idealists; no matter what, we have the choice to take the initiative to change the status quo. We love to root for the underdog, as they stand tall against the immeasurable challenge before them.

“It is but fair to say that America is not a land of one race or one class of men... America is not bound by geographical latitudes. America is not merely a land or an institution... America is a prophecy of a new society of men: of a system that knows no sorrow or strife or suffering.” – Carlos Bulosan, 1946