“100+ College Essay Topics” 1

Topic: Find x. (U of Chicago)

X is many things: in English, it is one of the letters in alphabet; in mathematics, it is used to define coordinates in graphs; x can also be something that one has to solve. However, “x” is also the independent variable in math; it is the factor that changes the output, the “y.” I believe that the “y” is my life and the way I live. Although there are many ‘x’s that changed my life, there is the one ‘x’ in my life: my grandmother.

             When I was growing up, both my parents worked. As a result, I spent my first seven years of my life with my grandmother. Although I did meet my parents at night, it was my grandmother who waited for me when the kindergarten bus arrived. It was my grandmother who attended my parent-teacher meetings, and it was my grandmother who protected me and taught me the most important lessons of my life.

             My grandmother sometimes directly protected me from some of the bullies, but later taught me how to deal with them better: not to fight back, and to forgive. She protected me from my wrongdoings, by teaching me how to act the right way. Of course, I was just a little kid who did not listen to these words carefully, and came to regret it later. I learned my grandmother’s lesson the hard way. However, I eventually learned most of the things that she tried and still tries to teach me, such as forgiveness, thankfulness, understanding, responsibility, to care, and most of all, to love. This is one thing that she did not teach me directly with her words, but I learned though her actions.

             There will be other ‘x’s trying to change me for the better or the worse. Despite all the ‘x’s that I come across in my life, I will never forget my grandmother, the ‘x’ in my life, and the values that she taught me. I will try my best to follow her words and her actions, hoping that I will one day become the ‘x’ of someone’s life, like my grandmother.