Newest College Application Essays

From the commercial corridor of Raymond Njoku street, a lesser known road strays from the bustle that typifies Nigeria’s capitalist hub. This road leads into a cul-de-sac where wooden kiosks selling bread, musk, and mosquito-repellent coils are...

I never believed there could be such a big world hidden in such a tiny cube. Staring at the Rubik’s Cube sitting next to my computer monitor made me remember my destiny with it. When I was nine years old, I saw my cousin solving the Rubik’s Cube...

At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, Japanese runner Shizo Kanakuri dropped out midway through the marathon after feeling like he could no longer keep running. He simply took a boat home without telling anyone, and the race officials assumed he had...

“Ridiculously disrespectful,” I mumbled to myself. I’d just seen two students stealthily looking into their desks, utterly disinterested. Shocked by their distracting whispers, which rose above the sound of my voice and the harsh scratches of my...

Teaching myself how to play music has illuminated my greatest skills: being a didactic learner and a divergent thinker. I have been involved in music my whole life, fiddling with any instrument I could get my hands on. I currently own three...

At the end my junior year, in my AP United States History class, I was assigned a group film project in which I learned several important life skills. With this project, I took creative leadership to create a satirical film about Dorothea Dix and...

My work area watches straight out of Mad Men. Its dark lacquered complete and calculated legs give it a 60's vibe in the midst of the tan covering and orange dividers of my lounge room. A defensive tangle, covered with Sharpie imprints and X-acto...

My glistening mouth is frozen in a wide grimace; my eyes peer down into my little white book. My mother has asked me to read for her and I am determined to do so, despite my younger brother's distracting presence. This is my mother's first...

In kindergarten, I was a cyborg. At least, with wire glasses and a clanky metal leg brace, my classmates thought I was. They thought cerebral palsy was a disease that made you part robotic; mostly because I led them to believe that. For in-school...

On a Wednesday afternoon in May 2020, two partners and I are preparing our AME 331 final presentation for planning roads in cold mountainous areas—a dream inspired by my memories of not having such needed roads in rural China. Together, we sit in...

Run, run, run! I Ignoring the fire in my limbs and the thunder in my chest, I forged ahead at a greater speed. I remember crumbling to my knees on grassy turf. I remember my friend, Simi, emerging from the shadows of the gazebo with a look of...

So ubiquitously sold in the streets of cold breezes of winter in South Korea, a red bean bun brings deliberate warmth and joy to many people. Sold at a price of only forty cents back in the 90s, the red bean bun was more than just a snack; it was...

I zoomed in on my character with a few quick swipes using my drawing tablet pen. The blocky character was made out of perfect, tiny squares as if it had been built out of Lego bricks. But something was a bit off. I peered into the picture and...

“Look!”

At the dinner table, my father presented me with a concept map. I knew that I would be his audience, listening to his idea of creating the Home of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a hub to nurture and encourage creativities.

One year...

I remember the large, looping curves in her handwriting. I remember them well because they are now characteristic of my own penmanship. When I attempt to draw human figures, I recall the bulbous eyes she often gave her cartoon characters when we...

“Where from?”

“United States”

“WELL-COME,” joyously declared a little kid from a Bedouin tribe in Jordan. Surrounded by ancient tombs, a sandy landscape, and locals wrapped in head scarves selling items from their tents, I felt out of place. Yet,...

When I first discovered computer programming, I was suffering from severe wrist injuries and could only type slowly with my toes. Despite my inconveniences, I created over a hundred other programs (including thirty computer games) and learned...

I fill my search history with mug shots and tear up a nice school shirt as an incoherent combination of thoughts, memories and questions swirls in my head. As always, when confused, I turn to my oils and brushes.

In 2008, I watched Professor...

Getting to work at ten in the morning to go stand in what I charitably referred to as the Hut for eight hour stretches was probably not how most people envisioned their summer but when you live in Santa Cruz for as long as I have, working at the...

In my hometown, Nanchang, China, the Gan River divides the city into two worlds. One side of the river has enjoyed much government investment: skyscrapers are adorned with beaming neon lights, and beacons are announcing the economic prosperity of...

My mother’s hands tell the entire world of my life. They were the first to hold me when I was first born and feed me when I cried. It was her hands that have raised me on behalf of my busy dad, patting me when I behaved well and spanking me when I...

As I travelled to Tanzania, I realized that many people in Moshi Village suffered from unemployment and poverty. When shopping at a local fabric market, I wondered if subsidizing exports would stimulate the local economy. Standing in the middle of...

“Mom!” I grumbled, “these don’t fit either!” I could feel my throat closing and my eyes welling up. “Mackenzie’s fit her so well, and...and Juliana’s actually look good on her.” I stared at the streaked mirror disgusted with the pants that...

I got lost.

Learning Calculus BC had been a somewhat predictable process of applying rules and formulas, until I met Taylor series. A quirky combination of X, N, derivatives, and factorials, it overwhelmed me with such a bombastic look.

Yes, I...