College Application Essays accepted by University of Denver

University of Denver

June 4th 2006

5:50am

The volunteers in the red shirts direct us to enter our corrals. It's race time. Twenty-three thousand of us cram into our assigned areas and stand shoulder-to-shoulder, no room to move. I know what lies in wait—fifty-four...

University of Denver

It was an ordinary game of floor hockey. My palms were soaked, my skin unbearably itchy. The droplets of sweat were rolling down my back. But I couldn’t pay any attention to that. The offensive player was approaching me with the puck, trying to...

University of Denver

"On Thursday," announced my religion teacher, "we will be going to the zoo to find our animal totems." For those that don’t know, an animal totem represents the Native American belief that each person has a connection to a specific animal. I was...

University of Denver

The piano is predictable. If I hit the right key, it will play the same note every time, and if I play a song correctly, there will always be harmony. Life is unpredictable and always changing; thus, the piano is a logical safe haven. The piano is...

University of Denver

I’m hanging on a half inch thick loop of nylon webbing over a 100 foot cliff, double checking my anchor set up for a climb I’m about to try with a friend. My hands are a little numb and my breath hangs in the air in front of me. Looking out from...

University of Denver

Here you find a wild Kirby in her natural habitat.

~ My hair still damp and smelling of chlorine, a product of summer’s first swim, I settle into the armchair’s cool leather embrace. Sipping iced coffee and gazing out the window I mentally prepare...

University of Denver

I’ll always remember that drive; there was a crisp summer breeze sailing in through my window and the taste of early-morning dew still hung in the air. My heart was beating so fast, I could hardly hear my favorite song, “Sweet Caroline”, blasting...

University of Denver

It is often thought that the fastest route to Carnegie Hall is practice. I would never discredit the importance of practice, knowing its vitality in my own vocal development, but I believe confidence is equally important to success for any...

University of Denver

Blistering aluminum pans flying through the air. The head chef yelling orders at the sous chef, who would then relay them back to the line cooks. I pushed through the swinging doors to the back area, dropping off dirty dishes and yelling “corner”...

University of Denver

“OK… I’m not sure that was supposed to happen.”

My co-worker Greg and I both regarded the bike shock that now lay in two parts on the shop floor in a puddle of hydraulic fluid. The bike itself hung from the work stand, looking disconcertingly like...

University of Denver

My crown! It's lost! My crown is gone!" cries Babar the Elephant. As a toddler, mom would read my favorite bedtime story Babar Loses his Crown, an elephant who (you guessed it) loses his crown in Paris. That story, and others like it, are in...