Essay Questions

What is your most memorable childhood experience?Back around the age of perhaps six or seven years old, I once caught the flu. It was a fairly ordinary case, but quite hard to go through at the time. My mother stayed with me late into the night, comforting and watching over me. That night, I learned that the most essential medicine for an illness isn't something that comes in any bottle or tablet.
What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why?This is a difficult question to answer. Superficially, I'd say my father. I'm told by others that we share many mannerisms and personality features. This isn't a bad thing, as I look up to him as an example of a gentle, reliable, and capable man. On the other hand, in terms of my inner self, I'm probably more like my little sister. We always seem to understand each other's thoughts and worries implicitly.
What character traits do you admire in an individual?Compassion, thoughtfulness, and consideration. Especially compassion, as the business of being human is sometimes a difficult one, and compassion is foremost in the things that make the job easier.
What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you?This is a difficult one to answer, as it involves a joke that does not translate well to English. One time, I was looking around for my glasses, and asked my grandmother if she'd seen them, not realizing I had left them on top of my head. She laughed and said I was just like my father, "Big dummy raises up little dummy!" I retorted using an old proverb "Dragon gives birth to dragon, phoenix gives birth to phoenix." Well hey, I said it doesn't translate well, but it had my grandmother in stitches.
If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why?Modern travel is cheap enough that already I can afford to go anywhere I wish. Just maybe not as often as wished for, and maybe not always in the most comfortable manner and style. These days, finding time is the most difficult. That being said, I mostly travel to see my relatives, who are scattered all over the world.
When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them?I would pour my life and soul into them; I wouldn't particularly care to hold anything back for myself, if that's what it takes for them to grow up strong and healthy. Because that's what my parents did for me.