I never accepted “happily-ever-after.” For one, my parents never emulated it. My father is a businessman, my mother a piano teacher. Their union of economics and art clashes harshly. Still, I’ve salvaged priceless values from the disharmony: frugal spending and emotional power. When I was nine, my mother compelled me to learn the piano. My first instinct was to rebel. I judged that she couldn’t choose what was best for me because she couldn’t even choose a...

Traveling by glass box couldn’t be that bad, not if that was the only thing keeping you from plunging into the unforgiving South China Sea. So, when I found myself in this situation last summer, I elected to stay; besides, the cable car gave me a sweeping bird’s-eye-view of Hong Kong. In the hazy sky, the sun peeked behind shrub-dotted mountains. En route to the famed Big Buddha, I had no idea that fighting fear in the cable...

Admins like to see a bit of your own personality or sense of humor. But be honest about it! Use humor in conservative sprinkles and definitely never include a joke that even you don't find funny. I remember countless nights slaving over every word (mostly for the sake of fitting the word count limit) and as a result, some of the humor/personality had to be cut. Thus, my essays seem a bit grim, but as long as the message...

As a humanities major, I never would have thought I'd enjoy a STEM/science-related class....

Literature Club is a blast once you get into it. If you love books, you'll find great book-loving compadres here. Truthfully, my first few times...

The Bottom Line is a weekly (indie) student-run newspaper that gives even novice writers, illustrators, and photographers a chance to build up their portfolio. In my experience (unlike the...

Every person is a complex individual, but the...

I never had a private admissions counselor, but looking back I feel that I would have really benefited from one. I thought my grades were enough to get me into a good enough school,...

Students are largely pretty laid back and know how to have a good time here, but come midterms and dead/finals week, we can really crack down. (One quarter during dead week...