College Admissions Essay
Hey all, just thought I would share with everyone my college admissions essay. Keep in mind this was created for the casual reader, not the experienced bodybuilder.
College Admissions Essay Topic A
One. The first repetition comes easily. Two. My hands perspire, and the steel that was cool only seconds earlier feels warm beneath my fingers. Three. I can now feel my muscles stressing to move the bar from my chest, the weight seems heavier than when I began. Four. I keep my mind focused on the speckled ceiling tile high above me, drowning out the muttering of other gym-goers. Five. The pain sears through my chest, my muscles are screaming in protest. Six. The final repetition never fails to be the most difficult and important. Images of my meager frame years ago flash through my mind as the bar lowers and lowers, until it is level with my chest. Harnessing what is left of my energy, I fling up all 225 pounds of it, while reminding myself of why I must do this. Why I must put myself through such fulfilling torture everyday. Why I must bring my body to the brink of agony nearly everyday of the year. So is the life of a bodybuilder:
The rigors of bodybuilding are not limited to training. Nor are the effects of it limited only to the body. What is done outside of the gym matters just as much as, if not more than, lifting weights. A strict diet comes standard with any bodybuilder’s life, as well as a strong sense of self-discipline and an ability to commit to a goal. If anyone has ever told you that eating five thousand calories a day distributed between eight and ten healthy, high protein meals is easy: he lied. Just for comparison, the average American eats between fifteen hundred and two thousand calories a day; fewer than half of what one must consume to maintain a bodybuilder’s physique. That is excluding the fact that the meals must be clean of all processed fats and other unhealthy substances, which have unfortunately made themselves available among many popular American foods. Although many people may think such an extreme diet is insane, to a bodybuilder it is entirely necessary. Bodybuilding is the fuel of my mind, the fire within me, and the gift I have found that has helped me to realize that I have the ability to achieve any goal I set my mind to. Without it I might be where I was two years ago; weak-willed and lacking confidence.
In December of 2004, with little knowledge of bodybuilding, but a strong urge to pursue it, I made a decision. More than a decision, but a lifestyle change, and probably the most drastic change I have ever undertaken. I began working out daily, unaware of the extreme challenges that come along with being a bodybuilder. Although things progressed slowly at the beginning, I was determined to persevere. I quickly found that through research my expertise grew, along with my pace of progress. As my weight increased, so did my grades, determination, and resolve. Before I knew it, I had become what a year earlier I had told myself was out of my reach. Through my hard work, I had achieved results that I never thought myself capable of, and it only made me want more. I continued growing stronger in the gym, heavier on the scale, and became increasingly more motivated in everything I did. I was amazed to find that I had the ability to sculpt both my body and, at the same time, my mind. Just when I would begin approaching the finish of a goal, I would create another.
A common question among people who know about my lifestyle is “Why do you do it?” It is hard to articulate exactly why, because it is a combination of so many things: I do it for the way it makes me feel, look, and behave. I do it for the incredible self-assurance it gives me. I do it for the day that I warm up with the amount of weight that was previously my one rep maximum. I do it for the day I got dressed and realized that I would need an entirely new wardrobe of large sized shirts (there it was: tangible proof for myself that I had grown). But no single one of these touches on the most worthwhile reason that I devote myself to such a tasking hobby. This reason actually has little to do with how I look or feel. It is because bodybuilding is what makes me who I am. The accomplishments it has led me to could never have been achieved through anything else. To improve my body is always something I strive for, but to improve my own character is something I would have never known how to do: not until the day I picked up a weight.
As a bodybuilder, I represent a different breed. A breed blessed with the discipline of a fifty year celibate, and the never dying obsession to maintain a healthy and respectable body. We are a select few, but those who represent us have a disposition which can be found no where else.
