University of Connecticut

I wake up occasionally to the sound of a rooster crowing. I live in Hartford, the only real city in Connecticut and I wake to the sound of a rooster crowing. I am alone when I wake up and there is sunlight pouring into the room. I know when I go...

University of California - San Diego

As I watch my opponent pace back and forth, I steady myself, appear indifferent, and slow my breathing. Suddenly, he lunges, taking hold of my wrist so that I may not block his punch. I think, "Don't flinch! You've done this one hundred times...

Haverford College

"Honor" is not a concept easily described in words. To the contrary, it is far easier to reveal honor through one's actions. It is a defining quality in a person's character, as well as an indispensable requirement for any strong relationship....

Boston University

"Merudh, get up, get up!" It was four in the morning, and I was four years old. The heart-pounding sound of my dad's voice woke me out of a deep sleep. As I peeked through my bedroom door, I saw my father bolt out of our house with my mother in...

University of Puget Sound

When I went to my first 4-H meeting back in 4th grade I was in awe of the incredibly poised officers running the meeting, passing their microphone among themselves as they addressed nearly one hundred members and their parents. Sometime in the...

Chapman University

I lived in a small town in northern California for most of my childhood. I attended elementary school, and was involved in pretty much everything -- especially the performing arts. When I was in fifth grade my parents announced that we'd be moving...

Johns Hopkins University

Edward Jones was my next-door neighbor until my family moved to a different town five years ago. He stood about six feet tall, told great jokes, and played the best songs on his acoustic guitar. He always gave my me and my friends chocolates, and...

University of Puget Sound

Two communists and a fascist sit on my desk. Every morning they greet me, staring with gigantic, famished eyes from behind their acrylic wall. "Here you go, boys" I chime merrily as I give them the day's rations.

On a whim a few months ago I drove...

Loyola Marymount University

In this quote, Fr. Arrupe intended to convey that Loyola's main objective is to educate students to be the kind of people who work for justice, even if it means setting aside their own wants and needs. One person in my life that works for justice...

University of California - Los Angeles

My personal interests range from physics and math to the martial arts, but I would particularly like to address my interest in robotics and creative design. This interest alone has enhanced my creativity and problem solving skills, to the extent...

University of California - San Diego

I was born the second child in a family of four, with one older brother, and for all of my life I have been either the shortest or one of the shortest kids in my class. Thus, it naturally follows that I have been picked on and would want to be...

University of California - Berkeley

(A)mbition, balance and commitment are the three qualities that I refer to as my "ABC's" for achieving "D", my dream. (B)eing successful depends on continual awareness of your ABC's. (C)arefully following this philosophy has guided me through...

Clemson University

As I drove up to Maine, I knew exactly where I was going, but I did not know what to expect. I was to spend my eighth summer at Wyonegonic Camps, but for the first time as an Assistant Counselor (AC). I had first arrived there as a nervous...

University of California - Los Angeles

My first seven years were like night and day compared with the next ten. As the youngest in my extended family of cousins, aunts, and uncles, I was the center of attention, and my life felt as routine as clockwork. But that was all about to...

Tufts University

New York City is a place of vitality, the Rome of the new millennium. As more of a global city than an American one, it possesses a certain mystique on the world stage.

Children in New York City are privy to realities that are foreign to...

Johns Hopkins University

As a political enthusiast, I am captivated by the subject matter of AP Government. The instructor, however, makes the course truly remarkable. The instructor, Mr. Feinblatt, has substantial personal experience in the field of New York City...

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The most insightful, relevant advice I have ever been given was the suggestion that ultimately shaped my career goals-to pursue a major in music theory and composition.

During the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I...

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Though my specific academic and career goals have grown and developed as I have matured, I have always maintained a singular vision: to pursue music, in any way possible, and use it to touch others.

For most of my childhood, I desired a career in...

Tufts University

Offering a wide array of courses, Tufts University is an institution where I can pursue my diverse interests in satisfying detail. The esteemed professors, exemplary facilities, and noble mission of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy create...

Cornell University

My fascination with foreign affairs can be traced to a series of experiences in my childhood. Coming of age in New York City, I have been privy to many experiences which would have remained foreign to me had I grown up in suburbia. En route to my...

Cornell University

The School of Industrial and Labor Relations truly beckons me. It combines my fascination for government and politics with the labor issues of our era. Courses incorporating public policy and law--in which I will dissect issues such as the...

Arizona State University

Perhaps my greatest accomplishment thus far is managing to survive kindergarten. I was definitely a weird child; not weird in the sits-in-a-corner-eating-paste sense, but certainly strange and, at times, overly cautious. During circle time, I made...