This is one of the short essays for Yale University undergraduate admission.
It needs to be fewer than 250 words. I briefly wrote my story but I think it’s not well-organized.
Essay question:
“Reflect on something that has given you great satisfaction. Why has it been important to you?”
Following is a story that I wrote:
Five years ago, I met a baby-girl who
was born by an 18-year-old girl. Her mother who don’t
know the true meaning of mother left
this baby right after she gave birth to a child. This little
baby had to be raised by a 20-year-old
young father alone, but in Korea, the father alone
could not be the legal representative
for the baby, so she couldn’t receive any of state legal
protection. This young father had hard
time raising the baby on his own and was determined
to give up and send her for an adoption.
After hearing this story, I decided to help them.
First of all, I consulted with a lawyer
I knew and even visited the court to talk about their
situation earnestly, but I heard that
there is no way for this child to receive legal benefits at
the moment. I realized how grateful I am
to live under the protection by the law. However, I
didn’t want to give up helping this kid
and got to know the “Community Support Center for
Families in Crisis.”
First of all, in order for this baby to
be protected under the law, she had to be posted at the
family register to her father, but it’s
impossible to do that without a mother. So I visited Police
ask them for help, but there was no way
to contact baby’s mother who ran away. Therefore, I
visited the Support Center once again
and asked for help, and was finally able to put this baby
on her father’s family register. After
that, she was able to receive all the National legal
benefits, such as child-care benefits
and medical benefits, and I was very happy to help them.
It was a very difficult process, but I
felt rewarded because it brought such a good result.
Through this experience, I learned that
even small help and interest to people in need can
give not only a hope but also the power
to live new life, and I believe this will be an
opportunity to bring more interested in
single-parent families to Korean Government and also
it was an opportunity for myself to be
more matured human-being.
