In third grade, my mom told me I was a princess. Not the type of princess who wears pink chiffon and has long golden hair, but one whose history was so marred by discrimination, her people had lived in shame and secrecy. I am the great-granddaughter of the last chief of the aboriginal Ketagalan tribe of Taiwan. For generations, aboriginal roots have held connotations of savagery and poor class. Every native was thought to be undeserving of all human privileges,...

I accredit many of my accomplishments to the strong guidance of those around me - the family members who raised me, the mentors who pushed me. Because of them, I know the profound impact that an individual can have on others. I have learned that having a role model is endlessly inspiring, but so is being one. I believe that at Boston University, I will be surrounded by people to look up to. I will be in a community of...

Twice a week, I find nirvana. Entering the Taiko dojo, I lean forward into a formal bow. Upstairs, the soundproof glass partitions shudder, barely containing the deafening thuds of wood against leather. There she waits - my Taiko drum, my medium to bliss. For the duration of every performance, I grasp heartbeats in the palms of my hands and force them into tempos of my choosing. Doko. The steady rhythm of cardiac palpitations. Don. An unexpected throb. With every connection...

I have always held tremendous respect for human emotions, and believe that the ability to redirect primitive feelings -- anger, betrayal, lust, adoration -- towards art is one of humanity's greatest achievements. Emotions are complicated and confusing. It's hard enough to feel hurt, but some people have the beautiful ability to articulate their pain through words. Poetry is a paradox of uninhibited control. Watching spoken word artists perform is at once both liberating and suffocating. They expose so much of...

In 2000, PBS Kids aired a puppet show called "Between the Lions", which featured a family of lions, including a daughter, Leona, and a mother, Cleo. My name is Leona, and my mother's name is Cleo. I nearly died with excitement at the uncanny coincidence. Since then, I have considered lions to be the ultimate motif of my life. Wherever they were -- at the zoo, set in stone in front of Chinese restaurants, or playing football for Columbia University --I...

However, even as a second-generation Taiwanese American, I already feel partially disconnected from the debate, mostly because I was raised in a country that consolidates the island of Formosa into a miniscule paragraph in world history textbooks. "Taiwan," my study guide reads, "an island off the Chinese mainland that became the refuge for Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang regime; rapidly industrialized after the 1950s." I remember that my AP World History teacher could barely match his pronunciation of "Kuomintang" to his experienced...

It took me over sixteen years to fully understand the singularly most basic element of life. It wasn't until after hours of floundering helplessly on a treadmill that I even began to wonder what water actually tasted like. And then, as I rasped to anybody who would listen that I would just about die for a cup of water, I reached a feverish, half-deranged conclusion. Water is a sensory miracle, virtually undetectable except in the most extreme of conditions. The...

I am the observant golden child of a failed entrepreneur. My father is a kind, brilliant man, but his lack of success in his business ventures has enveloped my childhood in constant whispers of failure, angry excuses, and promises to do better next time. I watched his dreams unfold in a blur of bank loans and empty commitments. Months later, I saw his optimism dim in a miasma of debt, unreliable employees, and a crumbling economy. His disintegrated hopes became...

Be genuine, be friendly. Colleges are...

In college, I serve as a tutor/mentor for Firm Foundations in the greater St. Louis area. My responsibilities include serving as an academic and personal advocate for underresourced...

It is really important to be proactive during the summers in high school. Personally, I was involved in a lot of volunteer work....