Beginning the essay by admitting that you were once less tolerant is a compelling way to demonstrate just how much you have grown as a person. With such strong supporting evidence, the quotation takes on a life of its own. This can be very effective if the statement is unique and gives a glimpse into how you view the world. It can be detrimental if your statement is debatable or unclear. Make sure that if you use this form of introduction that no admissions office will take offense to it.
High school is a strange time.
After three years of trying to develop an identity and friends in middle school, students are expected to mature immediately on the first day of ninth grade. After all, no one expects a student to immediately mature on the first day of ninth grade. Moreover, if your reader senses that you attained most of your maturity at the beginning of high school, he or she might be less than impressed with your character development. It would be better to state, students are expected to enter a new environment in which they must function with far greater maturity. To this day, the United States remains driven by the American Dream, and we often hear of immigrants who come to this country to search for opportunities that their native countries lack.