Learn College Essay Writing with Free Lessons & Tips

I can't speak like you, not an intelligent as you are. But I cry and get hurt, I play, and I love, I love, and I am proud to where I belong. I belong there, the big cats, the wolves, the hyenas, the elephants, the giraffes, the monkeys, the bears, the cobras, the pythons, the eagles, the peacocks, the rivers like Kali, Krishna, Ganga, Kabini, Sharavathi, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Nile, Yenisei, the trees like oaks, teaks, sandalwoods, banyans, jacaranda, pines; the flies, the whales, the golds, the octopuses, and infinite others. We live together in the heavens of the earth like the Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats, the Amazon, the Sahara, the Atlantic, the Arabian, the Pacific, and the list just goes on. I am happy living where I belong to.
Human kids are often told stories of a lion who can aggressively come to kill the baby if he doesn't eat his food and here, we say to our cubs the reality of how humans can threaten our kingdom and destroy our lives. Let me narrate you a story of my cousin Cleo, the most handsome of all the bears in the forest. It was one fine morning in September, the rains and the sun played the environment beautifully together where the winds added the chill, the whole weather was just so perfect. We bear can easily give up on anything if we are bribed with beehives with no bees and more of honey, an extra sider of honey, a full course meal that has honey and to end with honey for dessert. Honey is the most delicious of all the foods that exist, though the chef bees are not our friends. Cleo and I badly craved for honey in that pleasant weather, and as we walked a mile away from our home, we saw a massive beehive with litres of honey flowing out of it. I believe that the entire bear community had never seen such a mouth-watering honey pot. "Jackpot", said Cleo, he didn't think twice and ran to run his tongue and fill his stomach like it was a banquet arranged for the bears by the Gods. But I stayed and made slower movements as my mother always told me to be aware of the traps that humans laid to abduct us. Cleo was busy caning and boom! The story that I was told since childhood turned out to be real. Cleo was trapped inside a net by the monster humans, and as I started screaming for help, they rushed and carried him away. The truck they brought with them had a banner "ZOO" in it, and I also saw Tara, the elephant; Dheer, the tiger; Voldin, the python; Zucu, the flamingo bird and many others. The truck drove away, and the families drowned in deep sorrow.
After a year, we tried to erase the worst memory from our lives and made an effort to move on. There was a sudden commotion everywhere in the forest, and for the first time in the history of the animal/bird kingdom, a bird took a flight away from the aviary of the monster human. Yes, Zucu was back home. He escaped the zoo and flew back to rejoin his family. There was a ding of admiration everywhere. The lion king had called all the families of the forest to attend the meeting that evening. Zucu was on the platform, and there were cheering and applause all over, he was asked to tell everything that happened in the zoo.
Zucu, the hero started with a loud weep and said it was hell, a hell that you all can never imagine of. I was kept on a very tiny cage where I hardly could even flap my wings. I was fed with some water and five chillies a day. Sometimes I even starved when the keeper forgot to feed me. There are many other animals, birds, reptiles, fishes, birds from all over the world who are kept in the worst conditions. The ones whose families are decreased and endangered are also imprisoned; the environment's big brains must protect them. Instead, they are torturing them.
The captive wild animals are also being taken to the circuses and other shows to perform and entertain. It is not the rule of nature and not the behaviour of animal kind. If any of the animals refuses or doesn't respond, they are punished and stabbed till they are hurt. The younger ones of the animals are being separated from their mothers at a very early age and are trained to pose for the cameras and selfies with humans. If an animal misbehaves, there are several instances where they are tortured, starved, and beaten wildly. And I also heard there are not many laws from the humankind towards the animal kind unlike us. If they are more number of the same species, then they are brutally killed. Humans give for making a zoo for the education they say, my dear friends, we don't know how to read, write or talk but we certainly know to educate our younger ones with good deeds. The animals are not preserved and are propagated, animals can only survive when in their natural habitats, and if zoo managements are genuine about conserving this genus, they should do it in the wilderness. All the animals there are blemished and are in emotional trauma. Many of our own are being illegally traded to other countries. It is very dangerous; we are in utmost danger my friends, our lives are at risk. Let's all hope that the humans don't wreck nature and learn to value the creation.
BAN THE ZOOS. THE LIVES OF ANIMALS ARE AT STAKE. IF THEY ARE HURT, THEN THE END IS NO FAR.

read less

[This is the first article of my series on SOP]

I don't need to tell you the obvious. SOP (Statement of Purpose) is important. You know that. At the graduation level, admission committees devote considerable attention toward reading the applicant's SOP, which tells them something about the applicant that the other application materials can't. SOP is essentially a letter from the student to his/her future teachers in which the student tries to establish a personal connection and the student tries to tell the decision-makers why he/she should be picked ahead of other applicants. 

You probably know all this. Yet, it's disheartening and mind-boggling how many students don't care to write their own SOP. Even if they write it, they either do a cut and paste job or attempt to cobble together something workable out of ten different essays. This approach can really hurt your chances. It doesn't matter which school you're applying to (whether in India or abroad) or which discipline you belong to. For the following reasons, please write your own SOP (or Application Essay):

1) Who knows you better than yourself? If you have made up your mind to pursue higher degree, then there must be a Reason. If your reasons are just materialistic, then it's fine. But I ask you to rethink. Besides the reasons you think obvious (going abroad or earning more salary or climbing the corporate ladder), there's perhaps an underlying Reason why you chose your discipline in the first place. Identifying that Reason is the first step to SOP writing. Now, often the Reason you single out can be steeped in platitude. It needs a mentor or a skillful guide to help you dig deeper into the Reason to tear off the veneer of clichés and make that Reason relevant to you, your career, your future, and your purpose in life. Since, no one else can brainstorm the Reason for you, only you can be the discoverer and author of it.

2) Following up on the first point, your Reason puts a stamp of uniqueness to your essay and adds an element of authenticity to it. Your SOP needs to stand out in the eyes of the committee members. If you're going to outsource your SOP to someone else, then your Reason will be either cooked up or borrowed. But it can never be yours.

3) The process of identifying the Reason can be incredibly illuminating. The entire exercise can be like writing a memoir. You're trying to know yourself anew. Believe me, this can be rewarding. You may be surprised to discover that while all along you thought you wanted to be a Chemical Engineer because your dad told you so, you may have some personal (until now unknown to you) motivation. This discovery may give you a renewed purpose toward your career. Often times my students resist the Reason identification process. But once they discover it, they find it straightforward to write the actual essay.

4) Not writing your own SOP is cheating and lying. If you're willing to take a shortcut to such an essential part of the application process, then in future once in the grad school you may be tempted to take bigger risks when the going gets tough. You've heard of the advice to not start a relationship with a lie, and it applies to your future grad school too.

5) If you think writing is not what you do in your discipline, then think again. At the grad school, you will be required to write essays, reports, thesis, or academic papers. How will you undertake those tasks if you're averse to write about a subject matter that you're the expert of: You?

For many of us educated in the Indian system, writing is a daunting task. We were hardly taught in school or college how to write a paper, how to develop an argument, how to articulate our thoughts, how to open and finish an essay. Add to that the challenges of grammar and diction of the English language. But you have to start at some point. You can't dodge the challenges of writing forever. So take your time. Start in advance. Pen your own personal SOP. You can certainly take help of an editor or good coach to help you develop and polish your college essay. But please don't hire someone to write your essay entirely for you. No self-respecting college essay tutor should offer that service. And neither should you expect to.

read less

Rajenda, your question is open-ended, paving way to multiple answers. However, I would like to answer and see if my answer will satisfy you. Read anything and everything in English - This will build your vocabulary. Speak in English with anyone available - Develops your speaking ability. Watch movies in English - Improves your listening ability and pronunciation. Write a page in English everyday - Improves your writing skills. I am sure that if you follow all the above mentioned activities depending on the areas you need improvement in, your skills in those areas would improve. You will learn English in the process. read less

Bindu, you can improve yourself in the English Language Skills in many ways, depending on the area that needs improvement. Writing Skills need separate coaching and methodology, whereas Speaking Skills need to be approached differently. Listening Skills likewise have to be dealt with a different methodology. The basics of all these would be as follows: 1. Reading in English - Newspapers, Novels, Short Stories, etc. (Helps in speaking and writing). 2. Speaking in English - Speak with someone, anyone (Improves Speaking ability). 3. Listening in English - Listen to songs in English, watch movies and shows in English. Hope these pointers would help you start in the right path. Good day! All the best! read less

Most people think that sometimes it takes a great philosopher like Socrates to make a sensational speech which can actually make a difference. Well, I have to disagree. I think that all the people who are given the gift of speech have the ability to make a difference around them. For this, one has to first understand the power of Speech.

Communication doesn't only mean sharing our thoughts and emotions. Sometimes one right word said at the right time can make a lot more meaning and difference in someone else's life.  We may not even be aware of how much our words can influence others. 

Harsh and impolite words cut deeper than a sword.

A CEO of a company was once invited as a Guest speaker in His school. As an alumni, he was asked to speak few words. He stood up, took the mic and started saying,"Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. Words can build and words can kill. When I was 10 year old, a pencil from my fellow classmate had accidentally fallen into my bag. Having noticed a strangers property in my bag I decided to return it to the owner. When I went back the next day, I joyfully took the pencil from my bag and turned to my class mate and gave it to him hoping to receive a kind word or some sort of gesture from him. I was from a very poor class family so getting an approval from a rich boy meant that he took me as a friend. The boy quietly got his pencil and left. To my surprise, I was called by my teacher for an enquiry. She said,'You little thief! this is why this school should not permit low class people! Can’t your parents afford one pencil for u.!" I started the day hoping to gain a good fiend but instead I was called a thief and that little rat who used to take other peoples belongings and was made to sit in the sun the whole day while these words continued to echo in my head." He ended his speech by saying,' That day I harbored so much of hatred towards rich kids who stereotyped poor kids. I didn’t go back to school for few days. The other kids used to ignore me because my teacher called me a thief in front of the whole school. I started to fall back in academics. It took me a whole year to realize that in end of the day it doesn’t matter. Kindness trumps all these small acts of hatred. Be kind to one another. ONE WORD CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE."

When I read this passage I realized how much impact few words can create in the minds of young children. Therefore, I would like to conclude by reminding everyone that we hold so much more power than we realize by the words we speak everyday. One act of kindness can cause a ripple in some ones life bringing waves of kindness back to you! 

read less

Films : Advantages and Disadvantages

A film is automatically associated with fun, entertainment and relaxation. The next 2 and a half hours are to be enjoyed thoroughly. Work pressures, daily routines, chores at home and all other commitments are kept aside for this time.

We used to watch films only in a cinema but these days films are shown on television within three months of its release on the big screen. With the introduction of multiplexes, where one can see more than one film, do some shopping and also enjoy a sumptuous meal, all under one roof of a mall. Films have a great influence on the general public and this allows cinemas to flourish as commercial ventures. Films are popular since it appeals to the viewer’s sight and auditory senses.

Movies play a big role in the development and direction of the society. Films that show virtuous characters tend to inspire people to do good. In the same way, villainous characters bring out the evil in people and make people indulge in criminal activities. Films provide entertainment to both the rich and the poor and we should choose what we watch. Besides providing entertainment, films educate and inform the viewers of various social aspects and how we should live our lives, what we should tolerate and how we should go about objecting and the wrong meted out to us. Educational films show us geography, history and science and bring out a lot of details students may not be able to experience only through reading.

Films which provide information, education and values are known as family entertainers and many of them can be viewed again when they are telecast on television. Though the cinema experience may not be available on television, it’s perfect for the second or third viewing.

Many recent films are made solely with the aim of gaining excessive profits and many of these films don’t appeal to audiences as many of them have cheap, silly and negative perspectives and contain no information value. Some are vulgar, crime filled and violent and have a very limited viewership and therefore don’t have a limited run at the cinemas but being made on a limited budget are commercially profitable compared to the investment.

Films play a big role in influencing the youth of our society and should avoid displaying obnoxious styles and habit forming vices on the big screen as the youth ape these actions and commit thefts, crimes, get into violent fights imagining themselves to be heroes and think their actions will attract public acclaim.

Films have an advantage only if they entertain, inform, educate and are commercially profitable to the makers and the actors portray positive images and the viewers get entertained and value for their money.

This post originally appeared on Bryan Thankappan blog, and is re-published on UrbanPro by the author.

read less