University of Central Florida Undergraduate College Application Essays

I stood on the ground where millions of innocent people perished. I walked into a gas chamber, and I walked out. I saw the scratch marks on the walls where people were clawing their way to the top, trying to get one last gasp of oxygen as the...

My annual trips to Pakistan can be summarized with the use of a few basic words, including eating, sleeping, shopping, and complaining. If the car didn't have a fully-operating AC system, I'd curse the people and their lack of technological...

“Jooooorrrrddddannnnn,” my mom screamed with utter fear and panic in her voice. Surprisingly, amongst all of the chaos, her voice was all that I heard. I’m not sure if I was disoriented, bewildered or just in complete shock but at that particular...

I am a seventeen year old mother. Every single day after completing seven hours of rigorous Advanced Placement classes, I am ready to take on the responsibility of caring for a boy who desperately needs my help in order to grow up. I meet him at...

Whispered book titles and authors' names fill the air, full of ancient information and endless imagination. The smell of my coffee fills the tiny corner in which I curl myself up and open a book to the pleasure of a thousand word combinations to...

As a child, I was obsessed with 80’s movies. I admired Ferris Bueller’s infectious charisma and fearless confidence. I dreamed of having my own Jake Ryan waiting outside the church, grinning an impish smile while standing by his cool red Porsche....

Having been born and raised in the multicultural hub that is Miami, I was always in the midst of so much diversity. Growing up, I was immersed in my hispanic roots. Arroz con pollo y frijoles, rice with chicken and beans, was a staple in my...

As I shoulder my bedroom door open, the cardboard box once secure in my hands flops to the ground. The resulting thud echoes off the walls, but my attention has already shifted. I start a calculated walk around the room, taking it in from multiple...

When some hear my name, Mujahid, the first thing that may come to mind is the Mujahideen, the Afghan warriors in the Cold War era who later became extremist jihadists. Some are taken aback upon hearing it, but I don’t blame them for their...

At 9 years old, I thought I would never have to wrap my head around any words more challenging than the one that caused me to come in second place at the county’s spelling bee. Of course, I was a fourth-grader, not a psychic, and just one year...

As my family has traveled, a reproduction of one artwork has traveled with us: The Creation of Adam by the Italian Renaissance painter Michelangelo. The composition depicts the Biblical anecdote of God breathing life into man, who was created to...

What qualities or unique characteristics do you possess that would allow you to contribute to the UCF community? At first, I didn’t know how it could be done. Transforming six sheets of white foam board into a ‘Warhol-esque’ abstract version of a...

"Why are you so quiet?"

"Do you speak?"

Those few words would make the color of my pale cheeks turn to the brightest shade of red because they always sounded so judgemental. To many, it's only a simple question. Steaming curiosity formed from the...

Photography is like magic; they’re both about deceiving people. Since I was 14, I explored the world with my best friend, my Nikon D3400. I took thousands of photographs. Each one with less glare, less blur than the one before, but with the same...

I have fallen in love with Thursdays. Why? Because I volunteer in the ER at Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida, constantly madcap organization, a symphony of coughing and wheezing, as well as electric energy. Whether it is consoling patients or...