Indicate something that has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.

The application deadlines were fast approaching. For the past few days, I had been pondering over that one thing which had had a significant influence on me but was unable to arrive at a conclusion. In sheer desperation, I hit my tennis ball against the wall. It immediately bounced back. The second time, I hit it even harder. The third time it brought a message back with it. I had found the greatest influence on my life. It was this yellow, two and a half inch wide ball.

Our relationship began on my seventh birthday when my father gifted it to me along with a tennis racquet. Strangely, the umpteen wall practice sessions had put me into the habit of hitting the ball against the doors and walls of my room. Other than driving my mother up the wall every time she heard the thump of the ball, it served many purposes.

As is the case with all teenagers, I have often experienced feelings of frustration and powerlessness. Hitting the ball hard against the walls of my room has become an ef...