I met Ana when I was fourteen, and she told me that every skipped meal was a victory: against the forces that took away my girlfriend; against the divorce brewing in loud voices in the bedroom below mine; against myself for not yet knowing who I was. Ana hurt me. She battered and belittled me throughout our three years together, never expecting that she would ultimately help me learn self-love, never planning to give me the push I needed to...

In my junior year, intrigued by the idea of experiencing life as an undergraduate, I applied to the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) on Psychology and Neuroscience at American University. I was accepted to the July 2016 session and for ten days had the opportunity to live on campus with a group of peers from all over the world. United by a common interest and little else, we participated in psychology workshops led by undergraduate psychology students, attended neurobiology lectures taught...

Honors College Application: In my junior year, intrigued by the idea of experiencing life as an undergraduate, I applied to the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) on Psychology and Neuroscience at American University. I was accepted to the July 2016 session and for ten days had the opportunity to live on campus with a group of peers from all over the world, from Georgia to Alaska, from Taiwan to France, from China to California. United by a common interest and little...

Prompt: Tell about a book you have read that has inspired you. We wear labels throughout our entire lives. I switched to my current school, a small, independent institution where many students begin in K-3, in the sixth grade. I came too late to form the bonds many of them had, and, on top of my newness, I was also the youngest, soft-spoken, and terrified to speak out in class. In the middle school vernacular, the next label I received...

From the day I could hold a pencil, I knew I was going to be a writer. I started reading when I was three and would never be seen without a book in hand again. I wrote constantly, waiting for the day that I could publish one of my stories or poems. As I got older, I excelled in English, loved essays, and became involved in the school newspaper, writing about the things I find most important: healthy eating, feminism,...

What are you most excited about for college and how will Emory serve that? College represents a time to develop independence, maturity, and responsibility, all as part of education and massive personal growth. In today's hyper-connected world, it is impossible to consider oneself completely educated without having achieved a strong sense of global citizenship — the understanding of and respect for our world's many beautiful differences. For that reason, I am most looking forward to expanding my knowledge of the world,...

What is your favorite fiction or non-fiction work (film / book / television show / album / poem / play)? Why? At fourteen, I read Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Won't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. The book draws the distinction between introverts, the more emotional, reserved individuals, and extroverts, who enjoy the social situations and risk-taking an introvert might find stressful. Before reading Quiet, I viewed my introversion as a handicap rendering me incapable of leadership and independence. The book...