Hi! My name is Tom. I’m 16 and I live in Warsaw which is the capital of Poland.

Actually I come from another city - Wroclaw, where I lived for eleven years, but five
years ago, my dad decided to change his job, and we all moved to Warsaw. I have a
sister – Maja. She is 18 and she had been to USA two years ago and now she
studies law at the University of Warsaw. My dad works for a German company. My
mom used to teatch at the University and now, she works as a computer analitist.

I’m interested in computer science, music, sport and fantasy literature. Computers
first appered in my life when I was seven. Then I had got my first computer. It was
Commodore 64 and I remember myself thinking, that it was the best thing in the
world. I was playing it whenever I could. Then I had got my first PC. At first, I was
just playing computer games, but some time later, I noticed that I could do a lot more
things with the computer, for example programming. Now, I can already programue
in Pascal, C++ and HTML. I have my own site on the internet and I have done many
programues. I hope that in the future I will get a job as a computer scientist.

My favorite music band is QUEEN. I think it is the best group on the earth. Together
with my sister, we are devoted Queen fans. We have all their albums, many video
tapes, books, posters, gadgets and interviews. I love them, but I also like other
groups like The Doors, The Baeatles, The Rolling Stones, some Polish rock groups
and many others. Apart from that I’m really fascinated by Scottisch bagpipe songs,
and one of my favorite albums is the „Braveheart” soundtrack.

I have always been good at sports. I like playing soccer, running and swimming (also
SCUBA diving and diving). I have played in many sport tournaments (football cups,
handball cups, races) in which together with my team, I have won many trophys. My
favorite intelectual game is chess, but I have never played it professionaly.

I love fantasy literature. I read fantasy books and magazines, watch fantasy films
and play role playing games in which fantasy world is used as background. Once
every two weeks, I meet with my friends and we play „Middle Earth”. I’m the master
of the game and they are players. We play about five hours sesion. It’s a lot of fun.
„Middle Earth” is a game based on Tolkien’s books. I chose it, becouse I love
everything that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote. He is my favorite writer, but I like other writers
as well, for example Piers Anthony or Robert Jordan. 

My dream is to study computer science and to go to Japan. I love everything

associated with this country. and I hope that in the future, I will learn Japanise. I
want to go to Japan and stay there for a long time. I want to get a job there as a
computer scientist. Now, I try to learn Japanise by myself. I already know some
words and about sixty letters of their alfabeth. My parents promised me that if I learn
German and English well, they will find me a Japanise teatcher.
I hate spiders. When I see a spider (especialy when it’s a big one) I feel so very
small and the spider seems so huge. I don’t feel scarred when I see a mouse, snake
or any other animal and when I come across a spider I think: „Why is it not a mouse?
Why do I always find spiders and not mise for example”. This is terrible.

I have always been an achiever; be it academics or professional life or sports or any other field
in my life. I believe in success through hard work & dedication. My motto in life is to ‘If you want
something, work hard & you will achieve it; there are no shot cuts’. I enjoy life to the fullest &
love humour. I am a progressive thinker & respect each person’s space & values.

I am a soft spoken, honest & talented person. I have a good job, decent salary & a nice house
to live in. I think family as the first priority of my life. I think 5 years down the life I should be
happily settled with my kids, a lovely soulmate with all the blessings of our parents & relatives.

I am a warm, caring, loving & trustworthy person. I share a very special bond with all my friends
& family. I love to keep secrets & all the people around me confide their problems to me. I like
to help people to find solutions to their problems & also do a lot of social service at NGO’s as I
have completed my masters in Social studies. My aim in life is to serve people without any
expectation.
To my future self,

I hope that time has been kind to you, and that you are well.

You wrote this letter some time ago and gave it to someone you trust in the hopes
it would never be needed.

I can't predict what your life is like, but it's likely that some of the things you may
be facing are things you went through with your own parents and others. It's
because of that that you wrote yourself this letter.

Know that the person who has given it back to you cares about you a great deal,
and is concerned for your well-being. Please keep an open mind and listen
carefully to what he or she has to say. Accept that you may need to trust in their
judgment over your own.

They may ask you to stop doing something that you feel you are still able to do.
Remember that your father drove well beyond when it was safe for him to do so,
and how you and your mother worried every time he was out.

They may ask you to accept help that you don't feel you need. Remember that
taking care of your father contributed to your mother's eventual death. He felt he
could do everything himself. Yet your mother spent many nervous moments and
sleepless nights listening for him, just in case.

They may ask you to do something you don't want to do. It could be something as
simple as eating. Remember that in the end, your mother starved herself to death.
It could be something more substantial, like changing your living arrangements.
Your father, bless him, accepted the need for change, though by then it was too
late.

I can't know what you've gone through since writing this letter. I don't know what
situation has caused someone to feel it's time for you to get this letter. I only know
that you saw your parents both stubbornly refuse the advice of the people around
them, at the cost of their health and their lives. I don't want that for you or the
people who love you.

I hope that you'll remember that you wanted to learn from your experiences, and
that to that end, you wrote this letter to help remind you of those times, and to
accept the advice and assistance of the people who care.

As much for them, as for yourself.

From a time past...

Your younger self,

 

Sample Essay 1
Wellesley, Influence of mother
It took me eighteen years to realize what an extraordinary influence my mother has been on
my life. She's the kind of person who has thoughtful discussions about which artist she
would most want to have her portrait painted by (Sargent), the kind of mother who always
has time for her four children, and the kind of community leader who has a seat on the
board of every major project to assist Washington's impoverished citizens. Growing up with
such a strong role model, I developed many of her enthusiasms. I not only came to love the
excitement of learning simply for the sake of knowing something new, but I also came to
understand the idea of giving back to the community in exchange for a new sense of life,
love, and spirit.
My mother's enthusiasm for learning is most apparent in travel. I was nine years old when
my family visited Greece. Every night for three weeks before the trip, my older brother Peter
and I sat with my mother on her bed reading Greek myths and taking notes on the Greek
Gods. Despite the fact that we were traveling with fourteen-month-old twins, we managed
to be at each ruin when the site opened at sunrise. I vividly remember standing in an empty
ampitheatre pretending to be an ancient tragedian, picking out my favorite sculpture in the
Acropolis museum, and inserting our family into modified tales of the battle at Troy. Eight
years and half a dozen passport stamps later I have come to value what I have learned on
these journeys about global history, politics and culture, as well as my family and myself.
While I treasure the various worlds my mother has opened to me abroad, my life has been
equally transformed by what she has shown me just two miles from my house. As a ten
year old, I often accompanied my mother to (name deleted), a local soup kitchen and
children's center. While she attended meetings, I helped with the Summer Program by
chasing children around the building and performing magic tricks. Having finally perfected
the "floating paintbrush" trick, I began work as a full time volunteer with the five and six year
old children last June. It is here that I met Jane Doe, an exceptionally strong girl with a vigor
that is contagious. At the end of the summer, I decided to continue my work at (name
deleted) as Jane's tutor. Although the position is often difficult, the personal rewards are
beyond articulation. In the seven years since I first walked through the doors of (name
deleted), I have learned not only the idea of giving to others, but also of deriving from them
a sense of spirit.
Everything that my mother has ever done has been overshadowed by the thought behind it.
While the raw experiences I have had at home and abroad have been spectacular, I have
learned to truly value them by watching my mother. She has enriched my life with her
passion for learning, and changed it with her devotion to humanity. In her endless love of
everything and everyone she is touched by, I have seen a hope and life that is truly
exceptional. Next year, I will find a new home miles away. However, my mother will always
be by my side.
Comments:
The topic of this essay is the writer's mother. However, the writer definitely focuses on
herself, which makes this essay so strong. She manages to impress the reader with her
travel experience, volunteer and community experience, and commitment to learning
without ever sounding boastful or full of herself. The essay is also very well organized.