CommonApp エッセイ ~Amherst~

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2022 Amherst Supplemental Essay

At Amherst we know that identity is more than checkboxes. If you would like to share more about your identity, background, family, culture or community, please tell us more here. (Maximum: 175 words)

My Answer:

My classmates call me the God of Cleaning.

In Japanese high schools, there is a student who is in charge of cleaning the blackboard after every class and before the next class. Though almost no one wants to do this, I enjoy taking on the responsibility of erasing the blackboard.

With experience and intuition cultivated through years of erasing blackboards, I instinctively change the angle between the blackboard and my arms to the optimal position, keeping the  eraser perpendicular to the ground and maximizing the total momentum.

Once I alone wipe the blackboard, all the other students and teachers enjoy the lecture in a clean environment. Even one teacher’s comment saying “This blackboard looks beautiful,” brings me joy. Therefore, I do this task with a sense of fun from the bottom of my heart. 

I would like to keep the spirit of "Blackboard Eraser" as something that not only cleans my own mind, but also naturally cleans the minds of those around me, and furthermore, gives me a sense of purpose in my daily life.  (175words)

Please respond to one of the following quotations in an essay of not more than 300 words. It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. Remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay.

“Difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. Rather, achievement can be all the more satisfying because obstacles surmounted.”

My Answer:

"You're fired." My fellows and I were kicked out of the Craft Club (a.k.a. Eco Run) by the advisor teacher, Ms. Ishikawa. For ethical reasons, we were uncomfortable with her willingness to misrepresent our work. Due to a related argument over the management of the club, she declared that she considered us dangerous elements, and she confiscated our beloved 50cc Super Cub Car, which we had built from scratch. I talked to other teachers, but the situation did not progress. I felt a fierce resentment at the absurdity of Ms. Ishizuka using her authority to interpret "disagreements" as "rebellion against teachers" and dissolve our activities.

Then, I took a deep breath. Is it best for me to hold this resentment all the time? No. Instead, I took advantage of the extra time I had to try different things. I entered a photo contest after being moved by Saul Leiter, a New Yorker photographer. I participated in the MUN Nationwide and Worldwide Tournaments based on my experience of reading a pile of economics and politics books. I also tried archery, which I had longed to do since junior high school. Thanks to these efforts, my interests, hobbies, and intellectual curiosity grew even broader and deeper than they were in the past, and I have built lifelong relationships with both photography and political science.

"Oaks may fall when reeds withstand the storm." This illustrates well what I have learned: it is fundamental to democracy to argue with others fairly and honestly according to one's own principles, as oak does. But sometimes that can lead to frustrating obstacles. At such times, like reeds, we can seek a new direction from a challenging situation, and the world will open up to us.  (290 words)