University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

It was ironic that my dad always called me “Rock,” because a year ago I felt like a piece of clay. I remember the nights I spent in my room, crying in the silence, mulling over the value of my life. It was only months after my lifelong friend...

Boston University

I used to sit in my room staring at the wall, hoping for action, drama, comedy, or even romance. I did experience all of these things eventually, but through a screen, not directly. Every Saturday night was always another night at the movies. The...

Pennsylvania State University

I still remember the day I was first introduced to him -- a man I would never meet in person, but who would have a significant effect on my life. My sixth-grade music teacher did the introduction, as he played various clips of songs by The Beatles...

University of Virginia

Two years ago when I was stuck in the bustling streets of India with my mother in the scalding heat, I sought refuge in an air-conditioned sari shop. I sat down to read the short story which would forever be reverberating in my head: “The Story of...

Bryn Mawr College

“Get out, and never return to this family.”

Again, Dad caught Mom with her secret lover. It is even more unacceptable in China, a rather conservative country, to have extra-marital affairs. Mom said nothing. An hour later, she walked out with four...

New York University

Paradiddle. When someone mentions my father, this is the first word that comes to mind. You see, my father was a drummer, and this term describes the rudimentary basics of his hobby. As every good role model would, he utilized every mention of...

Harvard University

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” –Michael Jordan

It...

University of California - Los Angeles

Education provides students with the tools to make a difference in their community, but what students do with those tools is ultimately up to them. A solid grounding in any subject area is not enough by itself; students must have the desire and...

University of California - Los Angeles

Metallic. That’s the first word that comes to mind when describing cochlear implant speech. Surgically embedded in the inner ear, cochlear implants can restore a certain level of hearing to the deaf by electrically stimulating the auditory nerve,...

SUNY Albany

As a native of New York City, my use of the subway system is an inevitable aspect of life. By the age of five, riding the subway was not a new phenomenon for me. Day after day, I went many places with my mother and sister. Although these places...

University of California - Santa Barbara

I became interested in physics when I built my first computer, around the age of 13. A friend and I purchased the parts individually and assembled them to create a computer more powerful than anything then available commercially. Like surgeons, we...

Bates College

A few of the reasons I had for choosing Bates include the possibilities associated with the Bates Outing Club, the beautiful campus, and the exemplary environmental awareness of the students and faculty. I can say without a doubt, however, that my...

University of California - San Diego

It was supposed to be a simple interview for entering a high school, but it felt like a grueling interrogation. In addition to having a high GPA, I had to go through two other hurdles; pass a test on seven different subjects, and go through the...

Florida State University

I am fortunate to be able to say that all of the ideas behind the words “Vires, Artes, Mores” are reflected in my life in some way.

Both of my parents have shown me strength throughout my life. My father developed Endocarditis, a bacterial...

Villanova University

3, 2, 1, and the final whistle blew! The basketball game was over and we had won in overtime! My team from Central Bucks had beaten all of my friends from Council Rock, an unbelievable upset. A good friend and coach, Irv Magill, gave me the...

University of Pittsburgh

I owe a lot to cancer. While it leaves most with feelings of fear, despair, or pain, cancer left me with a passionate interest in the cancer radiation treatment process. When my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer in August of 2007; however,...

Lehigh University

A baseball player my entire life, I often find myself comparing the sport to different things in life. In my eyes, a college campus is comparable to a baseball team, and doing well in a college setting is similar to winning a baseball game.

A...

New York University

I have experienced the scene so many times that all recollections of the event blend together into a single, unforgettable memory. The seasoned, old general, with an eye for perfection, conducted his troops, me included, through daily, often...

NJIT - New Jersey Institute of Technology

In my eyes, your life is just that, your life. You must lead yourself and steer life in the direction that you want to go. If you don’t, then what are you but a no-name employee at your local Walgreens?

Now, I won’t be so quick to knock down...

University of Delaware

Passion is an essential part of anyone’s life. People turn passions into lifestyles and careers and allow their passions to develop and define who they are. Medical doctors are passionate about the human body, lawyers are passionate about the...

Duke University

A crowd of people forms at the entrance of the Eastside High School Gym. A five-foot-eleven, one-hundred-and-sixty-pound, curly-haired freshman shyly makes his way into the sea of faces. Today is tryouts for the Eastside basketball team. Eastside,...

Creighton University Medical School

The Jesuit tradition at Creighton is one of my reasons for applying. My study of literature at a Jesuit high school cultivated my ability to interpret the meaning behind the experience of illness and nurtured my Catholic faith as a young man....