"Topic B: REQUIRED (no essay on file) Choose an issue of importance to you—the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope—and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.'''' This is the presentation of the required essay, and I am applying to both private and public universities. My first choice is The University of Texas in Austin. I have worked hard, the entire duration of my life, including preschool. I was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and had the priviledge of attending a private school in Alabama until I was 9 year''s old. At this time, I was fluent in English, German, Spanish, and French. After my parents divorced, my mother moved back home to Texas. I did not have the opportunity to take another foreign language until my sophmore year. It is my opinion that this was a great disadvantage. I feel that there are specific studies that show that the earlier one learn''s a different language, the easier it is to have a command of it. Spanish came back to be very easily, but cannot remember those precious languages that (mentioned above) I could read, write, and speak. The term "Use it or lose it" comes to mind. My high school only offers three Spanish Courses, and again, I had to wait 9 years for the opportunity to take a foreign language. I would like specific citations, studies, ect., referenced. (At present, I am ranked number one in a class of a little under 100, and expect to graduate Valdictorian. I have had approximately 92 hours of duel credit college courses, and plan to major in the natural sciences, in order to obtain my medical degree. I would like to mention how the ability to speak several languages would benefit one''s life, especially going to a larger, more diverse college, and eventually my career as a physician.)