Newest College Application Essays

“Eww, what is that?” were words I remember as I brought out the bento box my mom had packed for me.

My middle school lunch consisted of typical Japanese cuisine, and I didn’t see anything wrong with it when I was 13 years old. Hurt by those words,...

"Someone must watch, it is said. Someone must be there."

When I first read this Kafka quote, young and ambitious, I set my goal as an artist to be "the watchman "of the world - to reveal the truth to the audience. Like many children, I was brought...

“Hiza magatende!”

Translated into English, this phrase is, “your knees are bent!” These words were what I listened to on a daily basis while I was training gymnastics in Japan. Because I heard these words every day, I realized the values of...

As I read The Odyssey one rainy summer night, the book became a prism that reflected a fantasy world free from the restrictions of reality and took me on a voyage of giants, monsters and gods. Its stories challenged me to embrace a viewpoint...

For most of my life, I was seen as a very skinny kid and sometimes I was mocked for it. There is a rising concern for boys who have body positivity issues and experience toxic masculinity. I for one can speak from personal experience on what it...

Biology. Cellular research. Diagnosing neurological diseases. These are my passions. I was eight years-old when my mother gave me a small but very real microscope. I first used it to examine the cellular structure of my father’s hair. A field...

Wide green screens, lanky wooden chairs, bulky professional cameras, powdery makeup, and a hundred frantic people surround me as my mind envisions this potential future of mine. Being a 21st century child, I was practically pressured into learning...

The first time I tried to bale hay was a colossal failure. I walked into the job with the naive feeling of “Oh, this will be easy” and that it would earn me some gas money. I came home my first day smelling like sweat and Alpaca dung, and so...

Mariya Kurbatova is busy planning her third novel, and says it will be “the best one yet,” probing into a variety of topics: growing up, unrequited love, AI domination, and the end of the world. Astrology will, of course, also play a large role. “...

For the last three years, a friend and I teamed up to lead Spartan Swipe, a school fundraising program that raises scholarship money for students in need. Leading this program has been very important to me. Not only does it feel great to help...

Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates are credited with helping shape the way we perceive the world and life within it, but certain philosophies lie within fruit as simple as a banana. The banana, an unlikely philosopher, has taught me valuable life...

A flurry of snow blew into my mouth as I took a deep breath and trudged down the street. I could not see the pavement ahead of me; my thick scarf had blocked off view. I pulled down my scarf and looked to my right, observing the row of cars making...

Elm Park is a five-minute drive down Pleasant Street from my house. Growing up, my parents took me to the park’s playground, which I frequented until I tumbled off a swing and chipped my tooth. I boycotted Elm for years, until I became old enough...

Nickelback, Green Day, and Blink 182 shook the walls in my room as I let my mind wander. Tap, two, three, four, I thought, as the beat of Photograph vibrated around my room and slid into my ears. My pillows became a drum set and the carpet...

Little grains of rice, smothered in my mom’s pomegranate-walnut stew, danced around in my mouth as my mind strayed away from my hectic day. Our shadows remained beneath us at the dinner table as the kitchen lights burned a picture of what I wouldn...

It’s clear why the Hudson Valley School of Art originated in the area surrounding Bard. Walking amidst the golden-crowned oaks, beneath swirling flocks of birds, one is instantly compelled to create something beautiful, to stop and ponder the...

I discovered science fiction in fourth grade, led by Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I expected reading to reinforce my view of myself as a “humanities person.” But science fiction made technology exciting and showed me...

It always started like this: I am in my room watching TV or doing my homework when I hear an excited knock on my door. Shortly after, my dad flings my door open, beaming, telling me that I have to listen to this song that he just heard on the...

I've never once questioned why I had to bring my teal-blue, TI-34, MultiView calculator with me to my driver's license test. It was outdated in design, and nearly obsolete in comparison to the sophisticated calculators my peers sported....

About six years ago, my mom decided to go back to school to pursue a degree in nursing. Every day when I would return home from school, I would be welcomed by the sight of her sprawled out on the couch surrounded by a mountain of textbooks and...

The glass doors swung open and two guards and an entourage of EMTs rushed in with the patient. I slipped between two burly EMTs and placed the blanket on the shivering old woman on the gurney. “M3 will do,” the nurse at the Triage station said...

At the tender age of five, I became a movie director. At night, I could entertain myself for hours at a time, lying flat on my back, in the dark, watching self-written films inside my head. These were the most exciting adventures, acted in the...

Few among us can report an encounter with Bigfoot, or really with any cryptid of equal reputation, but I came pretty close. It was a sweltering day in Atlanta, temperature somewhere in the high eighties. The iced tea in my stomach was nearing...

I met her when I was six. Though she stood two inches shorter, her intimidation towered over me. Yet, I saw beyond her hard exterior; I saw a friendship that has lasted over a decade. She’s more of a listener, only speaking when spoken to. She is...