College Application Essays accepted by Florida State University

Florida State University

Although my tale is about a basketball player, it is not about a six-foot-eleven athlete whose name is splashed across the sports pages of daily newspapers and whose picture graces the tops of Nike and Adidas boxes. Rather, this is a story of one...

Florida State University

I am fortunate to be able to say that all of the ideas behind the words “Vires, Artes, Mores” are reflected in my life in some way.

Both of my parents have shown me strength throughout my life. My father developed Endocarditis, a bacterial...

Florida State University

Michelangelo, perhaps the most renowned painter of the Renaissance, once said: “A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.” I interpret this quote to mean that art is created with the intention to convey ideas and express emotions as...

Florida State University

My yearning for the highest caliber of learning has taken me to Design and Architecture Senior High; it has been the driving force that wakes me up in the morning to prepare for an eight hour day as well as two hours of travel time, it has defined...

Florida State University

“On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the scout law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.” The scout law is how I incorporate Artes,...

Florida State University

“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...

Florida State University

If I ever felt like an outcast, now was the time. Loose brown hair, dark eyes, and olive toned skin, my Middle Eastern features were nothing like those of the other 500 or so passengers. As the plane rapidly reached a halt, the flight attendant...

Florida State University

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...

Florida State University

I can’t feel my legs.

That was my first thought when I woke up in a hospital room alone. I saw red when I opened my eyes; maybe it was the memory of my blood splattered on the car ceiling. Or maybe it was the memory of seeing that bright crimson...

Florida State University

When faced with daunting writing tasks--including this one--that call upon me to convey uniqueness and summon eloquence, I have sought the assistance of a higher source: Intelligent Life. They beckoned to me from neon-bordered pages: Leaders whose...

Florida State University

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...

Florida State University

Jimi is dead. My cousin has succumbed to the interplay of factors beyond his awareness or control. I am eleven years old. I lie on the hard wooden floor of my bedroom and gaze listlessly out the window. I think of my cousin's killer. Why did a...

Florida State University

Sarah - with her floral, lilac shirts, bluish, clairvoyant gaze and bass-y Southern accent - is a remarkable woman. I met her whilst serving in the Chelsea House Ministry, several years after she was rehabilitated by the program. Inspired by the...

Florida State University

My brother stands frozen in time, trapped in eternal wonderment as the gray horse sculpture rears above his head. An open-air church service is being held behind him, underneath the shade of another great, restless beast. A preacher dressed in a...

Florida State University

My dad taught me my first science lesson. He knew it did not have to start at school, but rather the minute a mind starts asking questions. That is what science has always consisted of—a curiosity forming into a question and a question being...

Florida State University

Danger looms in this idyllic, Floridian community and I, the stranger, am alert to the seamless transitions. The carbon texture of the hardening skies, the desertion of once bustling streets, the tentative schedules that allow room for imminent...

Florida State University

I spent much of my adolescence in Arcadia; a world illumined by artificial suns. There, people eschewed costly 'real' clothing for digitally enhanced 'shifts', government propaganda was broadcast hourly onto illusionary blue skies, and one could...

Florida State University

A string of jumbled and complex gibberish filled the air as a small group of kids gathered by the swings, rambunctiously joking with one another. I stood on the outskirts of the group, feebly looking from one face to the next, feigning a smile and...

Florida State University

Here, a door; pale and pink. Two boarded windows painted blue to reflect a cloudless day. Here, the field will be perpetually filled with fragrant blooms because that is how we imagine it. I feel eerily calm as I guide little Grace's hand within...

Florida State University

Crouched behind my yellow closet door, hearing glass shatter and walls banged, I kept hoping that something wonderful was about to happen. My parents were arguing over my father locking me in my room again. Whenever my mom was not home, he would...

Florida State University

For as long as I can remember, my mother has been a singer in my church. I would tag along with her each week to watch the worship band rehearse, and I can recall just sitting there, absorbing the music, with my eyes always fixed on the drum set....

Florida State University

I had spent the whole morning preparing to execute an Olympic worthy backflip into my aunt’s community pool. It was the summer before 6th grade; I stood at the edge, took one deep breath, and launched myself into the air. I imagined the intense...

Florida State University

"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...