What I Learned from My Mom: College Admission Essay Sample

Hair a mess, eyelids heavy, and bags under her eyes: every day I would see my mom come home, looking like this, tired from a day’s load of work. My mother, who had me at a young age, was forced to raise and support me all on her own. Where was my father? He was gone doing what he pleased, whereas my mom had to sacrifice her whole life in order to give me a life better than she had. Because my mom did not have a high school diploma when she had me, she had to work mediocre jobs in order to make ends meet. But even with working two to three jobs at a time, it was never enough. This, moreover, taught me to be a hard worker, like my mom, and to never give up.

As I child, when I would go to the toy selection in a store I would look at the price tags before I would even look at the toys. If nothing was in an acceptable price range I would leave empty handed. I knew that with no child support coming her way, my mom would not be able to afford it on her own. Although she claims to be truthful with me all the time, she would never tell me if she could not afford something; instead I would see the pain in her eyes when looking at the price tag. Some may say that it is my mother’s fault, that she told me to too much at a young age, but she did not. I was just more observant than most kids. I knew that because my mom was my sole provider she could not afford much.

I offered multiple times to get a job and help my mom out financially, but she always refused. “Sweetie, you think I want you to live like this? I am doing all of this so that you will never have to. Your job is to get good grades and be somebody.” She never wanted me to work. In her mind, getting good grades was my job. So from then on, I dedicated myself to getting good grades so that one day I will be able to take care of her. Additionally, to further prove her point that if she could do it so could I, she got her GED and enrolled in a university. She wants to show me that if I work hard, anything is possible. She has motivated me, through her hard work, to be the person I am today.

My mom has taught me what it means to be a hard worker. I learned from her that if I put my mind to it, I can achieve anything and that with sacrifice comes great reward. “You are so close to becoming something great. You can’t just give up!” With my mother’s words with me I know that I will be fine. With hard work and determination, I will be become somebody great and I will not let her down.