The first thing I notice is the sugar packet in her hands. She kneads it between her fingers, staring at it as if she was waiting for something to happen. She turns the packet over and over with such intent I’m afraid it will break open. I place their coffees down and ask if they’re ready to order. She nods and quietly points to the picture of oatmeal on the menu. She looks up expectantly at the man...

I didn’t know what I was looking for in my college search until I read Marina Keegan’s “The Opposite of Loneliness.” Flooded with college brochures touting internships, endowments, and student to faculty ratios, I realized that what sets Yale apart is the indefinable sense of togetherness it creates. The residential college system would give me an immediate community where I could look forward to bonding over snacks at the Buttery or competitions for the Tyng Cup, while Yale�...

I like learning about puffins, a niche interest inspired by my adoption of a bird named Todd through a promotion from my favorite brand of cereal. Spurred by the desire to learn more about Todd and his avian brothers and sisters, I went down an internet rabbit hole to learn how puffins are always able to navigate back to their breeding grounds. I crafted this information into a bird migration-themed John Denver parody called Magnetic Fields (Take Me Home), which...

Our soccer game has stalled because Matt is dribbling towards the wrong goal. I urge him back to the opponent's net, running alongside him down the half-sized pitch. Matt pauses before kicking the ball squarely into the bottom left corner. He then dashes between the players on both team, giving each an enthusiastic high five, because in Adaptive PE, even the defense celebrates when goal is scored. Due to a scheduling quirk during junior year, I was placed in this...

I am not strictly a cat or dog person, I don’t fit neatly into a Hogwarts house, and you can find both Nova and Frontline on my DVR. Many see these contradictions as something that needs to be resolved, but at Wellesley, defying classification is a source of pride. Wellesley exemplifies this value through its curriculum that has been “designed for people not interested in limits,” as stated in Reason 53 to choose Wellesley. My academic interests span the social...

On paper, Project 351 is a statewide youth leadership organization. To me, it is the reason that I fell in love with service and never looked back. I was selected to represent my town in eighth grade for the year-long program which focuses on learning leadership through the values of service. I have continued my involvement in the organization through serving on the Alumni Leadership Council, where I mentor eighth graders as they go through the same transformative process. I have...

When I moved to America, I didn’t speak a word of English. This isn’t that inspiring considering I was just seven months old when my family uprooted our lives in England to settle in Westborough, Massachusetts, a town so sheltered that it’s been dubbed “Westbubble.” It was once home to Eli Whitney and the largest straw hat factory in the world, but to me, it’s home to the sidewalks where I rode my Razor scooter and...

I am excited by the chance to synthesize knowledge from seemingly disparate fields into an interdisciplinary approach to global challenges, and I hope to pursue a career in medicine that is grounded in both the ability to care for individual patients and an understanding of how health systems operate within society. Through competing in a CDC-sponsored epidemiology competition in Science Olympiad, I became interested in health on a macro scale and began to connect what I learned in my studying ...

Ask me about running and I’ll quickly rattle off a list of personal records, or PRs. I’ll talk about setting a new PR for longest laughing fit with my teammates or how my PR for loudest scream was shattered while our bus did victory laps around my hometown’s rotary. On the starting line of the District Championship, I demolished my PR for best vocal performance during a Queen sing-a-long. Ask me about running, and I won’t...

I am not strictly a cat or dog person, I don’t fit neatly into a Hogwarts house, and you can find both Nova and Frontline on my DVR. Many see these contradictions as something that requires resolution, but at Brown, defying classification is a source of pride. I don’t want to want leave any of my curiosities unresolved in attempt to conform to a restrictive curriculum. Brown’s unique Open Curriculum would give me the opportunity to take...

I am not strictly a cat or dog person, I don’t fit neatly into a Hogwarts house, and you can find both Nova and Frontline on my DVR. Many see these contradictions as something that needs to resolved, but Umass would provide the perfect environment for me to defy classification. I could satisfying my interdisciplinary academic interests with the incredible breadth of Umass’ course catalog and the vast possibilities of the Five College Interchange. Beyond the curriculum, I could...

I hope to pursue a career in medicine that is grounded in both the ability to care for individual patients and an understanding of how health systems operate within society. The Public Health Science major would provide a necessary social context for my professional training while satisfying my diverse and interdisciplinary academic interests, which span the natural and social sciences. I think that pairing a Public Health degree with pre-med studies would best prepare me for a my future plans...