Facing an opportunity, I suddenly feel hesitant. Why? Is it complacency? Inertia? Or am I simply scared of failure? As I ponder the source of my uncertainty, I flash back to one of Mr. Chandler’s Grade 7 English classes. Our class was studying Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Ulysses when Mr. Chandler announced an “experimental exercise.” He told us to graph three lines on a y-axis of happiness and an x-axis of age. These three lines represented what we thought our...

As a young Sydneysider, I was always proud of the Sydney Opera House and embraced it as an icon of my city. It wasn’t until years later in Toronto, however, that I came to understand the full significance of this magnificent edifice. In my junior year of high school, I chose to look into the importance of the Sydney Opera House as a cultural icon for my IB Extended Essay. As I burrowed into the University of Toronto library...

Walking by the Dodge Physical Fitness Center, my tour guide speculated on the conception and development of the swim test. This trivial event reminded me of why I love Columbia: its commitment to both history and the future. The century-old Core Curriculum, firstly, is not only a vital part of Columbia’s past, but also crucial heading into the future. Through challenging the other side of my brain and allowing me to explore my interests in areas like world cultures,...

“Mr. Tong, why are we learning about complex numbers?” A few of my peers, irritated, turned around and glanced at me. “Well, because we’re in higher level math and because we all love math!” Mr. Tong exclaimed, continuing his lesson. It was a response that I had expected and one that I had heard many times. Nevertheless, I was slightly disappointed. The reason that I chose to take math, physics, and chemistry at the higher level in the International...

Liverpool Football Club was down 3-0 against A.C. Milan at halftime in the 2005 Champions League Final. Lying devastated on the sofa at 5 a.m., my nine-year-old self stared blankly at the TV screen in my apartment in Sydney. For 45 minutes, we had been out-played and out-classed. I had given up all hope and, frankly, I might have become an A.C. Milan fan for a few minutes. The camera panned around the stadium, eventually zooming in on a group...

Go into college with an idea of what you want to do career-wise, but be prepared to see it change. I...