“100+ College Essay Topics” 2

12. Tell us about the neighborhood that you grew up in and how it helped shape you into the kind of person you are today. (Yale and the University of Chicago)

Though there are still debates about the effect of nature and nurture, I do believe that nurture does affect human to some degree. I grew up in the capital of South Korea, Seoul; a very packed cities. In Seoul moat of the housing are apartments to meet the demand of houses. Our family was no exception and lived in one of the million apartments in Seoul. In an apartment there are many rules and since I was young I found out that I had to live with the rules. I learned to follow the rules the hard ways as a result I remember it more vividly.

As a kid I was scolded by the neighbors for not following the rules, but thanks to those moments I got a closer relationship between my neighbor and me. After the scolding I would have a chance to talk to them. I learned how to be friendly with others and accept different opinions. I also learned to me have a friendly competition at the same time. In the apartment there were many students going to the same school. Due to this unavoidable comparison among ourselves, we always tried our best.

Though I loved my neighborhood I had to move. When I was in 4^th grade I moved to a boarding school, which expected me to keep to rule. Due to my pass experiences I had no hard time following the rules. I also got along with my friends better that I could have. I believe my neighborhood affected me a lot, and I learned a lot living in one of million apartments in Seoul.