Mak(upless)ing a Change Two-year-olds love to ask questions. At seventeen, I still have not outgrown this phase. Now, however, I set out to find answers. At the beginning of my junior year I wondered why society places so much emphasis on makeup and beauty. That led me to wonder what it would be like to spend a year entirely makeup-free. After all, in 2015, the era of selfies, plastic surgery, and red-carpet-ready celebrities, a high-school girl not wearing makeup...

Before I was even born, I was already a part of the world of business. In the midst of my mother preparing for an emergency cesarean section to give birth to me, my father excitedly announced to the doctor that my two-week prematurity would save him money on his taxes for the year. I was jokingly referred to as “Daddy’s little tax deduction” by the doctors and nurses at the hospital. Thankfully the nickname has been forgotten, but the...

Me and the Meatball Sub Container A few days after my sophomore year ended, I showed up for my first day of my first summer job at the snack stand at my local wave pool. The day was extremely hot and we were swamped. Experienced crew members tried to teach me a few tasks to do, but the sweltering heat and immense crowds made it difficult to learn more than the basics. In a panic, they stuck me on dish...

A friend of mine in Villanova’s class of 2019 excitedly told me that her roommates would be from Great Britain and South American when I last saw her in the summer. As one may imagine, her roommates’ communities that they previously belonged to were very different than those that my friend and I are accustomed to in Pittsburgh. In college, I will be with thousands of people from a plethora of communities if not as roommates, than in classes, organizations,...

Spiders Arachnophobia is a word that means the fear of spiders. It is also a word that is extremely fun to say: ah-rack-na-fo-bee-ah. It even sounds better when you say it in a fun accent. Some of my favorites are the Australian alligator-hunter or middle-aged Irish woman. The entertainment is never ending, My sister and I have used the word as a joke since we were both younger. After hearing the word on TV or in a video, too young...

My junior year was a formative year in deciding what I would like to pursue as an occupation. My blog on spending a year without makeup made me realize that I loved working with media and using social networks in a professional way. I realized that I would like to pursue marketing in order to utilize the skills I developed from blogging to represent and expand a business. On the other hand, I simultaneously developed a passion for reporting and...

It was not until recently that I connected human geography to my ballet class. As a ballet enthusiast and current dancer, I enjoy watching ballet documentaries during my free time. I noticed a focus on filming dancers who were taking on a new lifestyle and culture for the sake of ballet, either to train or join a company in a distant place from home. Miami ballet has become so well known because of the influx of Latin-American dancers coming to...

My favorite food used to be a chicken and cheese burrito bowl with frozen yogurt after. I never thought I was someone who could ever become a vegan. People always joke that scientists and dieticians are constantly changing what is good and what is bad to eat. There is some truth in this. I have spent many hours of my life reading through countless articles and watching multiple documentaries that deal with food, since it such a relevant topic. A...

I always see myself as a half-city, half-suburbs child. I have lived in the same house for my entire life, approximately six miles from downtown Pittsburgh. Though I reside in a peaceful neighborhood, I always find myself at home in the city. From a young age, my mother would always take us downtown for all kinds of cultural events, on adventures, or simply to take public transportation to meet my dad for lunch. A lot of other kids in my...

Interviewed with University of Richmond,...

I was waitlisted at Villanova, Boston University, and University of Richmond, which I was strongly previously considering. That left American and Fordham to choose from, along with some other safety schools. I revisited both American and Fordham...