sample college application essay,beginning paragraph "When I look at this picture of myself, I realize how much I've grown and changed, not only physically, but also mentally as a person in the last couple of years.Less than one month after this photograph was taken, I arrived at the [school's name] in [school's location] without any idea of what to expect. I entered my second year of high school as an innocent thirteen year-old who was about a thousand miles from home and was a new member of not the sophomore (10th grade)"ending"As the college experience approaches, I am still the same person, only modified to better maximize my talents. Although I still have some time to play tennis and see movies, perhaps one of the few similarities between this photograph and me now is my smile."