College Admissions Essay: Bruce Lee As A Role Model

Imagine attempting to follow in the footsteps of the consummate role model, with unique and powerful qualities which you aspire to attain. This may be the most difficult task of looking up to a role model. All role models are the ideal people you want to follow, your idea of how you want to be in the future. To me, a role model is someone in my life that has influenced me in a positive way. They have helped shape the way I am in the present and make me what I will be in the future. Role models are the people that I can look to for advice in a hard situation and know that they will give me words of wisdom. A role model should be sincere, and truthful, and not out for their own good but for the good of others. For me, a role model should be older, as that person will be more experienced and have deeper insight. It would be pointless to have a role model who knows less than me. For me, that person was the one and only, Bruce Lee. His skills and abilities made up part of who
he was. But his values, his beliefs, and his qualities led me to harbor a deep affinity as well as admiration for him. Bruce Lee had a plethora of Martial Arts skills and knowledge, and was possibly the greatest Martial Artist of all time. His skills were extremely impressive, and his speed was unmatched. But the reason I admire Bruce Lee as much, is because of his values and beliefs, which came from his own personal experiences. These included when Bruce Lee once said, "Simplicity is the key to brilliance." Bruce's philosophies on the martial arts were influenced by this idea. His art was economical in the sense that there was very little wasted energy. Enough was enough.
Open Your Mind: Bruce Lee believed in freedom. Freedom of your mind. Liberation. He approached every situation with an open mind. Dedicate Yourself: He had a dream, and he followed that dream. He had a vision, he had a calling. He dedicated himself to his work, to his martial arts, to his family. Believe in Yourself: When Bruce first released his essay, Liberate Yourself From Classical Karate, there was a huge backlash in the martial arts community. People thought, "Who is this jerk and who does he think he is?" Thirty plus years later, the success of mixed martial arts is a testament to just how far ahead of his time Bruce Lee was. He believed in his ideas and again, wasn't afraid to go against what was generally accepted, and sticking to his guns and believing in himself has left him the legacy of being probably the greatest martial artist of all time. Bruce Lee once stated “ To hell with circumstances.
I create opportunities”. Bruce Lee’s era has long past, yet his influence and involvement with martial arts is still quite evident, even in the present. Bruce lee does portray many ideals, although the one truly powerful way he had influenced me was persistence. As it turns out, Lee had once decided to lift a bar which was his own weight, without sufficiently warming up when he heard a loud popping sound, and dropped the weighted bar. For several days he tried heat treatments and massage, until the steadily increasing pain forced him to seek medical advice. As he seeked medical attention, he was told he had severely damaged a nerve, and walking without aid was impossible after. Bruce Lee didn’t immediately fall down, and never get back up. He persisted to train and continue to pick himself back up, and while living through a back pain for the rest of his life, he never thought for a moment he had been defeated, or that he was
finished. To sum it all up, I would not be following the same path I am now, if it was not for Bruce Lee. His qualities convinced and inspired me to persist even when life is against you, and show determination and freedom. His influence caused me to rethink my life choices and consider what I had done wrong before, and I was determined not to make the same mistakes again. Despite the fact that Bruce Lee is dead, his legacy lives on. He is a hero not only in my eyes, but in the eyes of the entire world. Bruce Lee was a man of courage and a man of will. He changed the face of popular culture and inspired many people to pursue their dreams and make them a reality. Bruce Lee said, “If you think a thing is impossible, then you will make it impossible.” Bruce Lee gave and spread the idea of hope, and hope itself is the best gift a hero could give.