[BWC]: UC Essay Prompt #2

When I was ten years old, I visited my grandfather for the very first time in southeast China. Due to the others passing away before my birth, he was the only grandparent I had left. I remember entering the rural village where he resided and being shocked at how differently the environment was compared to what I was used to. The lack of technology and his simplistic style of living was new to me, but what shocked me the most was that he was happy in this condition. During my visit, much of what I learned about his life was through my parents. It was difficult for me to communicate with him directly since he spoke a Chinese dialect that was only native to the surrounding village area. My interactions with my grandfather consisted mostly of smiles, hand gestures and using my parents as translators. As a family, we spent three days in the village and left aboard a train to catch our flight back to the States.

A week after the vacation, I remember my mother receiving a phone call during dinner. Suddenly, she started bursting into tears midway through the conversation, but I was ignorant to what was going on. Later on, I found out that my grandfather had passed away a few days ago in his home at the age of 89. Upon hearing the news of his death, I was not emotionally shocked nor devastated because I could not yet comprehend the significant role that he would play in my life in the future.

In the following years, I have realized the need to treasure the people and things around me because they could be gone at any moment. I came to regret the fact that I never got to know him better as a person. Through my maturation, the love for my grandfather grew and although we were separated by a language barrier, I recognized the love he had for me as a grandson. His death has taught me to become a less passive person, that I could not afford to take opportunities for granted, and to fight harder to achieve my goals.

Honestly, this experience is not one of my proudest moments. However, the tragedy of my grandfather's passing has proved to be one of the most enlightening and significant experiences in my life.

In the past, my academic performance was just an arbitrary way to compare myself to my peers. Fortunately, my grandfather's passing changed that by bringing meaning and depth into my life. Academic excellence is no longer a meaningless undertaking, but rather each experience is another opportunity to grow, each class is another opportunity to learn, and achieve something more substantial than a letter grade.

Essentially, one of the most tragic events in my lifetime taught me that I must take a more active role in achieving my dreams and aspirations. Not only did I take my family and education for granted, but my own potential as well. I feel internally indebted to my grandfather because he has enlightened me to never stick to the norm of being an average student. Instead, I must venture out into the world and discover the many possibilities that are available to me. I will forever carry the memory of my grandfather with me, along with the lessons of his passing to guide me to reach my potentials and goals.