Appeal! :o
Name: Jocelyn
Age: 18
House you were sorted into: Gryffindor
Link to original application: Sorted.
Are there any questions you would like to elaborate on?
What HP character do you identify with most and why?
Original Answer:Ron Weasley, hands down. Besides my undying love for him, I think I am a lot like him, in a lot of ways. We both have huge families; while his is more immediate and mine is extended, my family all live around ten minutes from my house, so they're always over anyway. We both have really tough competition in our families too...Ron, obviously, has to do something that'll get him noticed with five older brothers that have a multitude of skills and talents and whatnot. I, academically, have to always be compared to my cousins and my brother who have all gone to college and graduated with honors and special certificates and whatever else, and seeing as I'm an English major (a sort of taboo subject for Asian people, I kid you not), my family's expectations of me are to fail, and I'm going to do anything I can to prove them wrong. Personality-wise, like I said, I am impulsive, I tend to wear my heart of my sleeve much like Ron does, and I'd die for my friends just as he would do anything to protect Harry. I understand what it's like to be insecure, to think that you're not good enough, that nothing you have now and ever will have will be good enough for society, the way it feels to have someone always in the spotlight, so close within your reach but yet so far. He's the most real to me in a plethora of ways.
Elaboration: I kind of knew it would be a mistake in saying Ron at all; after all, anytime someone sees 'Ron', the connection with Gryffindor would automatically be there. But I wasn't going to lie and put someone else: if Ron was Asian and a girl, he would be me. Or I would be him. You get the idea. Anyhow, the thing about this question is that you can only 'identify' with a character so much; I'm not saying I'm exactly like him, but given both our situations and our generic lives, we are very much alike. The other hard thing, and this goes for any sorting application, is that you can only go so far but it's still not you. I honestly doubt I could put into words just exactly who I am, but here's to trying, eh?
First and foremost, I love Ron mainly because of the fact that we are so much alike, even if he is a fictitious character. Like I said, he has a lot to live up to; doing something to gain a little attention and glory for his own instead of always being compared to his brothers, he has to live up to the expectations of a strict mother, and not to mention, what's expected of him, by himself and his friends. Granted, I don't have some Dark Lord treading on my best friend's heels, but the general idea is incredibly accurate. I don't mean to stereotype, but seeing as it's not really a stereotype if it's the truth, but I have to go through a lot of that, most of which I have to just because I'm Chinese. My mom and Molly Weasley would get along great, actually...she's always wanted me to get straight A's, graduate with honors like my brother, go to law school like my cousins, all of that, and she's been getting more adamant about it since she's realized that I'm going to go through with being an English major because we just don't do English. If I remember correctly, her words to me that day were, "You can't even read or write your own language, what are you going to do with English?" I don't even think she knows about the amount of pressure she puts on me by that alone, but then to say horrible things to me, even when I surpass her expectations, I don't get it that much. My dad, on the other hand, is very much like Arthur Weasley; laid back but very much in control of the going on's in the house, and while he is a bit strict, he's loads better than my mom; he tends to let her go off on her little tangents and rants whenever she needs to.
As for expectations of ourselves, I admit, I take on a lot of things. I'm doing fairly well and taking 18 and a half credits at school right now, am in the musical revue, and also freshmen representative for the student government. Ron has Quidditch, prefect duties, exams, NEWT's and, not to mention, a Dark Lord to take care of, though I guess I could easily compare my roommate to Voldemort, but let's not talk about that. Despite all of that, the one difference I can see between Ron and I would be that I willingly take on all this work and all the responsibilities that comes with all of that, while for Ron, school is mandatory and he was assigned prefect. Not that he doesn't enjoy it, because he seems to be getting along all right in the books, but generally, seeing as JK Rowling writes the book in Harry's perspective, a lot of Ron comes through from intuitive reading and making guesses at his character.
For the dark side of Ron, we both are incredibly temperamental, though I have been getting loads better at it. We both get immensely jealous of our friends. We're both very insecure people - him with his Keeper skills, and me with probably everything in general - but we both fight against that and we try our best anyway. We both get made fun of for a variety of reasons; him being 'poor' by wizarding standards, and me for being Asian in a primarily white university. I think we approach it in two different ways, however; while Ron is more apt and prone to throwing punches, I'm not a violent person by default (though I say a lot of violent things, doesn't mean I'd actually do them...I think I've only ever thrown a half-hearted punch once in my life), so instead, I think I kind of smile and then work double-time to prove my worth, seeing as I was taught that fighting with fists will get you no where. But I fully understand the feeling of insecurity, hopelessness, jealousy and anger - they're very humane emotions that we all go through, though whether we choose to acknowledge them or not is a completely different story.
And, to end this, I don't see Ron as brave as everyone else might, and this goes with Harry and Hermione, too. Everyone possesses a certain amount of courage and bravery, but how exactly do you measure that? I don't see them as brave, necessarily, seeing as all the predicaments they get themselves into are all very much forced onto them, what with Voldemort's involvement with Harry and all that. At the same time, Ron and Hermione don't run as, I think, many people would have, but to me, that tests their bonds of friendship rather than courage. I very much relate to this, also; if my friend was in a similar situation (not necessarily with a Dark Lord, but you know) I think I'd stay and help them through, just because they mean a lot to me...what I have to do doesn't matter so long as the one's I care about are safe. If I didn't have to put myself through all of that, I really wouldn't. Putting it like that, it kind of reminds me of Draco's plight in the sixth book (kill Dumbledore or have your family killed, etc), but that's getting a tad off topic. Anyhow, I hope that helped.
If you won a million dollars, how would you spend it?
Original Answer: I'd get an apartment somewhere, not too incredibly luxurious, but not shabby, either, probably in California or England somewhere. I'd pay for college, grad school, and put aside a bunch of it for the future; half of it for general stuff, you know, living expenses in case I don't have a job, emergencies, vacations if I should go on them, etc, and I think the rest of that bunch would go in a different account set aside to start my own production company. I might buy my dad a car, but other than that, I'd either save the rest or donate it to charity.
Elaboration: I wasn't going to elaborate on this at first, but today during my lunch break, a few friends and I were talking about the recent winner of the Powerball (a lotto thing here in Pennsylvania), and how they won 300+ million dollars. So of course, my friend Suhaiti asks the same question, and honestly, the first thing that popped into my head was "NO. MORE. STUDENT. LOANS." Given that, I think I wouldn't even think about what I'd do with that amount of money until I finish school, both undergrad and grad, seeing as I planned on going straight from undergrad to grad school. To be honest, I can't even imagine that much money, since my family isn't exactly 'poor', but we're not upper class, either. Taking the strain off of myself and my parents for college and things of the sort would be ideal, really. After that - who knows? I'd probably have to save a lot of it to live on; crazy English major, you know, money is scarce for the starving writer. =)
Explain why you feel misplaced in your current House! First, I have nothing against Gryffindor...I know that I come off as a very Gryffindor-ish person, and I do have lots of qualities of a Gryffindor and my best friend is a Gryffindor herself, but...I just feel highly out of place there. I can play into the facade and act my way through it, but in the end, I don't consider myself a Gryffindor. I think they're a bit too temperamental for me, actually. They get angry and upset at the drop of a hat, so it seems, and that inevitably causes loads of arguments and unnecessary drama. In high school, I was involved in the drama club, which resulted in loads and loads of drama and it got so bad where I just stopped caring and as a result, I became known as the Theatre B***h for it because I didn't partake in any said drama. I hated the nickname, but soon, I just chose to accept it and senior year they never really bothered me again. I would never want to go through all of that again, however, and it's a big part of why I'm such a jaded and cynical person now. I just think that me being placed into Gryffindor won't really help things much, because I tend to tell everyone to back off when they tell me about things I'm not directly involved in. Plus, pride is another thing; while I'd grin and bear it, I just don't think it would mean as much to me if I was in Gryffindor, in all seriousness.
What would you see in the Mirror of Erised? Be exact with your descriptions! Honestly, at the moment, the only thing I'd see would be me with a pen in hand. What my job is and what I'm doing, I don't really know, but as long as I get to write for a living, I'm all for it.
What makes you unique? To be honest, I have no idea what makes me unique. I sort of just...do my own thing and not really care what other people do. I dress the way I want to, I listen to whatever I like, though I guess in today's society, that in itself could make me unique. I also like the idea of school as an institution, but I have to say, if they made some changes to it, it would probably be loads better and then people wouldn't hate it so much. All in all, I guess just me being me makes me unique; I don't really follow typical social norms and I don't conform as much society probably wishes I did. I'm not your 'typical Asian girl'; I can't play the piano, I can't play the violin; instead, I sing and play the clarinet, and I'm pretty aces at vocals and acting. But I mean, I'm an English major for goodness sake...not even English ed! Normal people do not become straight English majors. I'm also the first in my family to become an English major, with everyone else being all business, law, or medicine minded. Basically, everything that I am makes me unique...I'm a writer, a singer, an actress, a student, a friend, a daughter, sister, mentor, cousin, niece...all of that makes me who I am. And finally, I have to say, I think having an incredibly diverse group of friends makes all of us, not just me, quite unique as it is.