Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. It was the spring of 2000, and I was terrified. My parents had decided to move from India to Saudi Arabia, and I was deathly afraid of what this endeavor would bring. An unfamiliar setting, separation from my friends, being at the mercy of new teachers – in short, I was facing everything a timid ten-year-old would ever want to avoid. Nothing...

Five balls fly through the air, continuously crossing past each other in a synchronous cascade. Looking straight ahead, I concentrate on both the entire pattern and each individual sphere. Why do I juggle? Despite what you might think, it’s not for the glory. There is something profoundly meditative about manipulating objects through space, and the possibilities of improvement are virtually limitless. The worldwide juggling community (yes, there is such a thing) is currently undergoing somewhat of a renaissance. Recently...

As a kindergartener, I remember hiding behind our overweight teacher as my four year old classmates derided me for wearing stick-on earrings to school. It was a lasting lesson of what is, and is not, acceptable. I’ve always found it interesting why identical behavior carries such a different social meaning – and can provokes dire reactions – depending on the sex of the actor. For a long time my thoughts on gender remained largely unorganized – a somewhat haphazard collection of experiences...

A number of years ago, a father was teaching his two-and-a-half year old son to read in Russian. He asked the boy to put together the syllables ma and ma. Without hesitation, the boy replied, “two mas.” A precociously sarcastic toddler? It would seem so, but when one considers who I am and where I come from, my response is not so surprising. Fortunately, I have learned that there is more to life than education. There has been no better...

A number of years ago, a father was teaching his two-and-a-half year old son to read in English. He asked the boy to put together the syllables ma and ma. Without hesitation, the boy replied, “two mas.” A precociously sarcastic toddler? It would seem so, but when one considers who I am, my response is not so surprising. I am naturally a mathematician, and always have felt comfortable with numbers and logic. It would seem odd, then, that throughout my...