I once brought a friend to 826 Valencia on the weekend and had to laugh at his amazed expression. “When you told me you went to a writing class on Monday nights, this is not what I pictured,” he told me. “What did you picture?” I asked, curious. “A real classroom. You know, with desks and whiteboards and stuff.” “We have desks here,” I replied, pointing to the battered tables. “We have a whiteboard.” I indicated the dry-erase easel covered in...

In the winter of my junior year, I applied to attend the Student Diversity Leadership Conference. I’d been encouraged to go by my parents and by my school’s director of diversity, and figured a few days in Houston would at least be an interesting experience. So in December I boarded a plane with nine of my classmates and headed to SDLC for three incredible days. It would be a gross understatement to say that the conference surpassed my...

In my essays it was important for me to get across not only what kind of person I was in high school, but also what kinds of activities I wanted to be involved in in college. I wanted whoever was reading my application to immediately be able to think of on-campus activities I would attend or clubs that I would join or lead, to be able to easily place me into the context of their community and imagine the kinds...

Emerson College is in the heart of Boston, which is an amazing strength. The school fosters a culture that encourages students to pursue whatever opportunities interest them both on and off campus. Most Emerson students are incredibly driven and passionate about what they do...

While I started out my senior year looking at a long list of colleges supplied by my college counselor, my parents, and myself, I ended up applying to only five schools, and I think that was a great decision for a few reasons. First, only applying to schools that I absolutely loved meant that should I only get into one of them, I would still be able to feel proud and excited about where I ended up. Second, knowing that I was truly excited about each of these schools made writing the essays a breeze. I never had to lie...

Of the five schools I applied to, I was accepted to all of them. Of those five, some might consider Emerson the least "prestigious" - it doesn't have as much name recognition, or the lowest acceptance rates. But I chose Emerson because it felt like the right fit for me. Emerson is very specific with its programs - communication and the arts is what we specialize in and what we excel at. I've known that I want to write for a very long time, and even in high school I was frustrated with required classes that didn't seem relevant to...