Half my DNA belongs to a nameless, faceless man—a man whom I will never meet. My parents have provided little information about him: he is tall, has brown hair, and has a brother. Truly, my only confidant in matters regarding this mystery man is my sister, Jordan, and that’s simply because her DNA is almost identical to mine. I epitomize a rarity. Only about a half of a percent of all pregnancies produce identical twins, and a mere...

For much of elementary school, my summers were filled with water guns, capture the flag, and Otter Pops. While my peers looked forward to another day of playing video games, I jumped out of bed, excited to head to camp. There, I could run around for hours or sit in the shade and make a friendship bracelet. And, as a seventeen-year-old, my summers aren’t very different; it’s with the same enthusiasm that I head to my summer job,...

The human brain is incredible. An organ that’s just double the size of a fist is responsible for every thought, every memory, and every emotion we experience. Yet, despite these capabilities, I see the brain’s most impressive feature as its ability to learn. It’s truly fascinating; while we are exploring human cognition, our brains are going through the very processes about which we are learning. I was first introduced to these processes in my tenth grade AP...

Boston University is particularly exciting to me because it’s a large school, set in America’s best college town, with an academic structure comparable to that of a small liberal arts school. The Hub, which epitomizes an interdisciplinary education, will allow me to delve into subjects like biology, a class I enjoyed in high school; for instance, I’m fascinated by “The Behavioral Biology of Women,” which combines biology with gender studies. Within my intended major of math, I�...

Living in Los Angeles, a city with people from all different cultures and backgrounds, often proves itself to be equally as educational as sitting in a classroom—I mean, the best way to learn about Japanese culture is to spend a day in Japantown. Columbia is an embodiment of this—from the Core to its student population, it’s a school that values diversity. Intellectually, Columbia encourages—and requires—all students to explore various subjects. As someone hoping to pursue...

“Go Brittany! Come on! Push it up the hill!” he yelled as I ran past him in my first race of my freshman cross country season. I didn’t even know who the man was, but he was shouting louder than my parents and sisters combined. I eventually learned that he was my coach’s best friend, a 68-year-old amputee named Irwin, who would soon become my biggest supporter in running. For Irwin, supporting athletes at high school cross country...

Most people see engineers as math fanatics, equipped with rulers and calculators, building foreign contraptions. Yet, I think engineers are those with the greatest ability to make a difference in society; they come up with solutions for our problems, and I want to be part of creating those solutions. I believe that Duke will best prepare me to accomplish that. For one, Duke’s experiential learning opportunities are unparalleled. I find Pratt’s emphasis on research especially appealing—I conduct...

“You’re a Republican?!” “No. I’m a Libertarian.” It’s a conversation that happens constantly. I consider myself a Conservative—one of the only Conservatives I know under the age of forty living in Los Angeles and certainly one of very few within my school. To my classmates, I seem like some foreign creature; they don’t understand why I hold certain beliefs and often don’t even understand what my beliefs are. Despite occasional scrutiny, I’m proud...

I’ve always loved all things related to The Wizard of Oz—I’ve read through all fourteen novels, seen the movie too many times to count, and even participated in an elementary production of The Wiz. Yet, it’s the musical Wicked, which tells the story of Elphaba and how she came to be known as “The Wicked Witch of the West,” for which I have the greatest appreciation. Beyond its flashy costumes and grandiose set design, Wicked is...

Today, social media is characterized by a certain falsity. That picture of your acquaintance on the beach could easily be Photoshopped. Even that story published by an established media source could misrepresent a situation to make certain people appear more attractive. In this era, where technology is right at our fingertips, social media should be used to share real people’s real experiences—not to make something seem more appealing than it actually is. That isn’t to say that...

In my eyes, success isn’t about a paycheck or the size of someone’s house—it’s about positively impacting the lives of others. And, what better way to achieve this definition of success than by becoming an engineer? Though Lehigh’s IDEAS, I’m certain that I will develop the skills necessary to not only become an engineer, but to become an engineer capable of making a difference in society. In this program, I can further my knowledge...

Sherlock Holmes—that’s who I like to compare myself to as I sit in math class, trying to uncover the answer to a mathematical mystery in the form of a complex differential equation or integral. Throughout high school, I’ve looked to further my skills as a mathematical detective, studying multivariable calculus and ordinary differential equations. But, I believe it’s at Northwestern where I will truly be able to advance my knowledge of this subject and its applications. ...

I’m not an incredibly talented guitarist. My fingers aren’t long enough to make the shapes of certain chords and I struggle to remember strum patterns. While this musical mediocrity has prevented me from mastering songs like “Stairway to Heaven” and “The Sound of Silence,” I look like a professional guitarist while playing my favorite song, “Dust in the Wind.” That isn’t to say that I didn’t struggle to learn the song initially, however. I spent months...

I have a very unique vocabulary — for a teenager, that is. I don’t use particularly big or uncommon words; rather, my list of most-used words consists of “darn,” “dang,” and “shoot.” I have nothing against swearing; I don’t look down upon my peers who drop the occasional f-bomb and I don’t gasp in class if a teacher mumbles a curse word. Yet, I haven’t sworn since fourth grade, when one of my peers challenged my entire...

For much of elementary school and middle school, my summers were filled with water guns, capture the flag, Otter Pops, and arts and crafts. While many of my peers may have looked forward to a day of playing Call of Duty or World of Warcraft, I jumped out of bed, excited to head to my favorite camp, Sports Mania. There, I could run around for hours, play practically any sport, or sit in the shade and make a friendship bracelet....

As I sat in a clean, white room full of high school students on WashU’s own campus, my heart started pounding. I couldn’t help but feel overcome with emotion while I looked at its white-pink color, its crevices, and its protrusions. Sure, it was just a sheep’s brain — but to think that every one of some sheep’s thoughts, memories, and actions were dictated by the organ resting in the palm of my hand gave me a...