SUNY Binghamton University Undergraduate College Application Essays

Saturdays were the days I followed my mom to work. Her boss would pick us up from our home in Brooklyn to the store that was miles away in Long Island. The hour-long ride felt like a trip across the country; forests and wheat fields greeted us as...

I woke up to the sound of sergeant instructors yelling to the top of their lungs at 4:30 in the morning - myself bloused in desert camis, and covered in blisters from the six mile hike the night before. Marine Corp Training is not a place to be...

I was at a loss for words.

Before we traveled back to New York, my dad insisted that we visit a nearby plantation. As I walked across the Carolina cotton field, I pictured myself in my ancestors' shoes. Imagining the verbal, physical and mental...

For years, the first thing I would say to my mom everyday is, “Mom, did you wake up yet?”The answer I would receive across the phone has always been a yes. Some days, I called her too early and she would respond with a muffled yes, clearly half...

I confess, at the age of eight, I did not know how to spell my name. I confess, at the age of twelve, I did not know how to comb my hair. I confess, at the age of sixteen, I was not ready to lead three hundred people.

A couple of weeks ago, on a...

While shaking the commissioner's hand, I felt myself overrun with emotions. Thirteen years of hard work, dedication and sacrifice all overlapped into one moment as I looked him in the eyes: a beautiful sense of accomplishment and gracious respect...

From a grade school classmate who mocked me by stretching out the corners of his eyelids (I’m Thai!), to people who thought it was okay to use Asian slurs because they didn’t include me (I’m not Thai!), to a middle school “friend” who texted me a...

“And the gold medal goes to…” My heart pounded as if it knew something I didn’t. My fingers gripped the sides of my desk, nails digging in. My teacher paused, her eyes scanning the room before landing on me. “Anna Kilasonia!”

For a split...