Trudging past the sea of yellow school buses, I looked up to see kids rolling down the windows and making odd smoking gestures at me. As they moved the imaginary cigarette away from their mouths, they released a satisfied “ahhhhh.”   “Rifahhhhh…" All I wanted was to get on the bus and blast music from my headphones, but I would first have to endure my classmates’ taunting. I already knew my name was different, but I had no idea why the...

Although Duke University boasts the largest lemur population outside of Madagascar, the tight-knit community and neuroscience program are its true highlights. Whether it’s conducting Alzheimer's research with Dr. Roberto Cabeza or mending health care disparities in Rwanda through DukeEngage, I know I’ll be prepared to thrive in the medical field post-graduation. Only at Duke will I have the pleasure of devouring a Midnight Breakfast during finals week, getting cozy with my assignments in the seats of the Perkins...

Preparation for Eid begins almost two months in advance. My fashion-forward aunt from Bangladesh bombards my mom’s phone with pictures of trending salwar kameez: a traditional style of cultural dresses. Afterwards, my mom barges into my room and demands my opinion. Intent upon resembling an ethereal Bengali princess, I choose the silkiest, flowiest kameez. My aunt starts frantically sewing my dress to ensure it arrives in time for Eid. Everything calms down after that. I nearly forget that Eid�...

As I sat in my summer Introduction to Psychology class and learned about split-brain patients, my bewilderment skyrocketed. I couldn’t believe that an image of a ring projected to the patient’s right field of vision resulted in him being able to say the word, but the same ring projected to his left field of vision resulted in him only being able to draw it. The key event that caused this absurd phenomenon? Severing the corpus callosum: the bundle...

Preparation for Eid begins almost two months in advance. My fashion-forward aunt from Bangladesh bombards my mom’s phone with pictures of trending salwar kameez: a traditional style of cultural dresses. Afterwards, my mom barges into my room and demands my opinion. Intent upon resembling an ethereal Bengali princess, I choose the silkiest, flowiest kameez. My aunt starts frantically sewing my dress to ensure it arrives in time for Eid. Everything calms down after that. I forget that Eid is...

If you could only do one of the activities you have listed in the Activities section of your Common Application, which one would you keep doing? Why? (150) Used to being handed ten dollars whenever I asked, I harbored the misconception that money grew on trees. It wasn’t until I received my first paycheck of 97 dollars that I realized the amount of work that went into each dollar. Working at Kumon has allowed me to master quadruple-tasking, improvising when things...

Explain your interest in the major you selected. Describe an experience related to that area of study, what first introduced you to this field, and/or your future career goals. Limit your response to 300-400 words Bursting through the doors, the sounds of beeping monitors and wailing babies rung in my ears. “Samuel’s acting up again,” the nurse at the front desk whispered exasperatedly as I put on a gown and gloves. It was 8:30 AM on a Wednesday morning....