In the August of 2015, tensions between North and South Korea reached a dramatic climax after a conflict initiated due to border propaganda, resulting in gunfire and an announcement that the North would invade that day. Eating breakfast in my apartment in Incheon, South Korea, about twenty miles away from the border, I watched as news reporters discussed the revitalized conflicts. Living so close to the border, the threat seeded panic among the people. Residents between Seoul and the border had...

I was only four years old when I pressed my first piano key. With one stroke of the finger, I had sentenced myself to ten years of rigid lessons and regimented practices. Over the years of training, I felt increasingly trapped, as if my musical progress had no value. The source of this discomfort became clear after I witnessed an acoustic guitar battle between two of my friends in the halls of my middle school. Spontaneously, my friends played impressively...

“Don’t take the AP, you’re not ready. I haven’t taught enough content.” My Biology teacher’s discouragement felt like a challenge. “I’ll sign you up if you insist, but don’t let studying intrude on my class.” With only one month before the test date, this meant that spring break would be my only opportunity to study. On the first evening of my freshman year spring break, I opened the AP Biology reference book, highlighter in...

The summer of 2013 was a major turning point in my life, when my family left a quiet suburb in Pennsylvania for Songdo, South Korea. Songdo was a brand new city, constructed on reclaimed land, and filled with high-rise apartments. Looking down from our 25th floor apartment was a shock compared to the view from our quaint house in Pennsylvania, but even more shocking was the diverse community at my school. The “melting pot” of the United States has ethnic pockets,...

3D modeling has proven to be an enthralling opportunity to combine my passion for artistic creation with practical engineering. It offers a platform where I can realize my artistic intentions without limitations. After spending weeks modeling various pieces of artwork, I decided to actualize one of them into a physical object. Having done research on the best hardware, I ordered and assembled a new SLA (Stereolithography) printer. Utilizing resin which cures in ultraviolet light, SLA printers can attain a level...

Hey dude! Let’s have a good year! To get the boring stuff out of the way, I have major allergies. While I can manage myself with shellfish and chickpeas, nuts are the real problem. Almonds, peanuts, pistachios, you name it, I’ll die if it gets into my system. While it’s a convenient way to assassinate me without getting your hands dirty, I hope that you’ll take pity on me and refrain from bringing nuts or nut...

Progress means, step by step, becoming better than the person you were before. At the Esther Ashkenas Central Park Early Learning Center, teams of therapists help developmentally challenged pre-schoolers prepare for education. I became involved with the center to better understand my then six-year-old brother with mild autism spectrum disorder. Once a week for a morning, I work with a group of six three-year-olds on the autism spectrum, navigating them through their daily routine. Progress for these children means improving...

n the summer of 2019, I participated in the summer STEM Computer Science for Social Good program at the Cooper Union, wherein I worked with three other high school seniors to design a functional website with the purpose of resolving a social issue of our choosing. Between complex necessary features and a wide array of impractical hopes, getting to a cohesive final product took effective project management on my part. Utilizing the Agile Programming Methodology and prioritizing necessary features, we completed...

Short attention spans. Granted, larger problems exist, such as climate change, but fundamentally, the drop in attention span of the public has made it impossible to solve those problems. It offers society the challenge to take prolonged action, going beyond its comfort zone to eradicate threats as a global community.

Summertime travelling has influenced my hobbies in art, music, and computer programming. In 2018, I travelled to Japan and Thailand, and taught middle schoolers at a Summer Camp in South Korea. In 2019, I visited my family, then programmed a website for environmental good at The Cooper Union.

On August 5, 882, King Louis III of West Francia chased a beautiful townswoman on his horse. To escape, she ducked under a low lintel. He followed, didn’t duck, and suffered a fatal blow to the head. His brother’s line eventually split West Francia into two nations, France and Aquitaine.

Determined, Pragmatic, Meticulous, Friendly, Open-minded

Music sets the tone for my life. With this in mind, I’ve come to acutely appreciate atmosphere. Some of my favorite music comes from specific game soundtracks, such as those from Breath of the Wild and Persona. Designed to guide user experience, they’re perfect for building a peaceful atmosphere.

Walking through the halls of the Huang Engineering Center, I was struck by the efficient study group discussions in the basement between students and professors alike. As someone deeply involved in peer tutoring, I look forward to engaging with and contributing to Stanford’s passionate and socially active academic community.

Assuming we maintain a 365-day year, the earth’s orbit must slow down significantly to accomodate a 25-hour day. This velocity change would launch people into the sky or ground at ~1400 m/s. Thus, I would have a 50/50 chance of spending my last moments in freefall, playing my guitar.

As the self-proclaimed owners of the Earth, we as humans can do a lot more to protect it. At the moment, a large majority of people are doing more harm to the planet than good. However, I believe that the human race has the potential to remedy our mistakes. In 2019, I participated in the summer Computer Science for Social Good program at The Cooper Union, where teams of four were challenged to design a functional website with the purpose of...

1) Having had an enriching experience in my Junior physics class, I was compelled this year to share what I have learned with struggling underclassmen as an after school peer tutor. Monday through Thursday, I have been privileged to help Juniors with their questions and prepare them for upcoming physics assessments. They come to me for help with problems ranging from complex dynamics to basic vector resolution. What originated as a way for me to give back to my school community...

As the self-proclaimed owners of the Earth, we as humans aren’t doing enough to protect it. At the moment, a large majority of humans are doing more harm to the planet than good. According to a March 2019 press release by the UN Environment Programme, “human health [is] in dire straits if urgent actions are not made to protect the environment.” It claims that the world has the resources necessary to move towards sustainable paths, but lacks initiative from the...

Michelangelo once said that “every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” Growing up as a pianist, something about Michelangelo’s words resonated with me. Somewhere in the sheet music in front of me lay a masterpiece, and I was tasked with finding that masterpiece. However, after years of struggling with my piano, trying to make it play the sounds I wanted it to play, I realized that...

The summer of 2013 was a major turning point in my life, when my family left a quiet suburb in Pennsylvania to relocate to Songdo, South Korea. Songdo was a brand new city, constructed on reclaimed land, and filled with high-rise apartments. Looking down from our 25th floor apartment was a shock compared to the view from our quaint suburban house in the forested hills of Malvern, Pennsylvania. However, the diverse community at my school was even more shocking. The “melting...

Harvey Mudd’s impressive curriculum follows the governing philosophy that engineers should “assume leadership in their fields with a clear understanding of the impact of their work on society.” Hearing this is what first interested me in HMC. Additionally, Mudd’s core courses, including biology, chemistry, and mathematics, will impart upon me a broad scientific knowledge. Taking hands-on computer science courses and diverse HSA courses, I know that I will be prepared to make a positive impact on the world...

Progress means, step by step, becoming better than the person you were before. At the Esther Ashkenas Central Park Early Learning Center, teams of therapists help developmentally challenged pre-schoolers prepare for education. Once a week for a morning, I work with a group of six three-year-olds on the autism spectrum, navigating them through their daily routine. I became involved to better understand my six-year-old brother with mild autism spectrum disorder. Progress, for these children, means improving their communication and socialization...

My parents are both graduates of Cooper Union’s Albert Nerken School of Engineering. Growing up, they both influenced me greatly on my path to engineering. Working on Science Fair projects with them during elementary school helped awaken my sense of scientific curiosity. Hearing them discuss problems they have at work and watching them work together to solve those problems, I hoped to become as prepared and professional as they are. Seeing their careers flourish because of their strong practical...

I am eager to participate in solving the technical problems of the future. Earning an Electrical Engineering degree in Cooper Union will help lay the academic foundation for me to become part of the solution. Having parents who graduated from Cooper, I am well aware of the academic demands. The rigorous and challenging curriculum will challenge and prepare me to perform at the highest level. In my freshman year I exhibited strong academic determination when I decided to take the...

Progress means, step by step, becoming better than the person you were before. At the Esther Ashkenas Central Park Early Learning Center, teams of therapists help developmentally challenged pre-schoolers prepare for education. Once a week for a morning, I work with a group of six three-year-olds on the autism spectrum, navigating them through their daily routine. I became involved to better understand my six-year-old brother with mild autism spectrum disorder. Progress, for these children, means improving their communication and socialization...

I am eager to participate in solving the technical problems of the future. These topics will be defined or heavily influenced by computer scientists. In the summer of 2019, I worked on a web application to encourage trash collection in NYC due to my passion for environmental sustainability. Pursuing a degree in Computer Science will help lay the academic foundation for me to become part of future solutions. RPI provides an ideal setting where I can continue to improve upon my...

Progress means, step by step, becoming better than the person you were before. At the Esther Ashkenas Central Park Early Learning Center, teams of therapists help developmentally challenged pre-schoolers prepare for education. Once a week for a morning, I work with a group of six three-year-olds on the autism spectrum, navigating them through their daily routine. I became involved to better understand my six-year-old brother with mild autism spectrum disorder. Progress, for these children, is improving their communication and socialization...

Computer Science has been a passion of mine since I was very young. In the summer before my first year of middle school, I decided to create a website. Cracking open an HTML book, I began to learn to code. What had started as a whim became a hobby. It was rewarding to learn new concepts, and eventually my knowledge branched into other web-based programming languages, such as CSS and JavaScript. As I entered school that year, I joined the...

Most fundamentally, I wish to graduate from Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science with a strong pool of computer programming skills and contacts from which I can springboard myself into a career or further academic studies in Computer Science. In regards to classwork, I want to explore my programming strengths more astutely, considering the wide concentrations which I can pursue. In particular, the Human-Computer interaction concentration is an ideal place for me to expand on my interests in both...

Progress means, step by step, becoming better than the person you were before. At the Esther Ashkenas Central Park Early Learning Center, teams of therapists help developmentally challenged pre-schoolers prepare for education. Once a week for a morning, I work with a group of six three-year-olds on the autism spectrum, navigating them through their daily routine. I became involved to better understand my six-year-old brother with mild autism spectrum disorder. Progress, for these children, is improving their communication and socialization...

“The most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see.” From This is Water by David Foster Wallace. Perspective is invaluable in any discussion about what is “normal.” “Normal” to a middle class office worker is drastically different from “normal” to a homeless man sleeping on the streets, and yet both would agree that a typical day for Bill Gates is in no way normal. At ten years old, living in the suburbs of...

Progress means, step by step, becoming better than the person you were before. At the Esther Ashkenas Central Park Early Learning Center, teams of therapists help developmentally challenged pre-schoolers prepare for education. Once a week for a morning, I work with a group of six three-year-olds on the autism spectrum, navigating them through their daily routine. I became involved to better understand my six-year-old brother with mild autism spectrum disorder. Progress, for these children, is improving their communication and socialization...

During vacations, I enjoy travelling and exploring my hobbies: music, art, and computer programming. In 2018 I travelled to Japan with some friends, indulging in Japanese technology, food, culture, and art, as well as visiting Thailand. Additionally, I spent time with my family in South Korea and worked at a Korean SAT Summer Camp. At the camp, I was in charge of tutoring a middle school class, proctoring practice SATs, and monitoring self-study sessions. During my free time, I also self...

Engineering is, for me, an opportunity to combine my passion for artistic creation with practical science. Engineering is all around us, in the intricacies of new technologies like 3D modeling and in the simple sophistication of applications which revolutionize industry and private life. In that respect, my whole life can be seen as an experience which has primed me and inspired me to pursue engineering through Computer Science. But if I could choose three experiences which were the most formative,...

In the summer of 2019, I participated in the summer STEM Computer Science(CS) for Social Good program at Cooper Union, wherein I worked with three other high school seniors to design a functional website with the purpose of resolving a social issue of our choosing. Getting started was difficult, as we had conflicting concepts, but by discussing the benefits and drawbacks of each idea, we decided a practical concept would be the most effective: a large digital map on which...

In my eighth grade, I was accepted to the prestigious Regis High School in Manhattan. My parents had been passionately pursuing their careers in South Korea, and decided not to leave them behind. Thus, I made the decision to move back to the USA without my family. My older brother stayed behind to finish high school and my four year old brother had to stay with my parents. My grandparents took me in, as they lived in Queens, New York....