I like to believe I had the perfect childhood. My kindergarten self was convinced that the only way my life could get better was to grow up and have real babies to play with. As I remember it my parents could fix any problem and my grandma would always be there if I wanted to make treats. I knew I was never far from someone who wanted to play and could never imagine my life any different...
{Alumna and writer Anna Quindlen says that she “majored in unafraid” at Barnard. Tell us about a time when you majored in unafraid.}
I enrolled in AP physics against the advice of my peers. They told me it was the hardest class offered at my high school and it would ruin my “perfect 4.0”. I was determined to prove to myself that I could do it. The first day of class my teacher came into the room and wrote on the board ‘AP Physics = Cry’...
{Pick one woman in history or fiction to converse with for an hour and explain your choice. What would you talk about?}
I would converse with Hillary Clinton. She has survived and thrived in a male-dominated profession. I would be fascinated to hear about her struggles and how she found the strength to endure everything she has faced, both professionally and personally...
Since 1892 only four Democratic presidential candidates have received Electoral College votes from North Dakota. Conservative views are a substantial part of this culture and are usually passed through generations without hesitation or question. I am actively seeking a diverse, challenging environment. A place where I will be surrounded by peers who want to challenge themselves and challenge me, and my views of the world...
The final note sounded as the song ended. The crowd roared. After ten years, I had finally nailed it. It has been ten years filled with countless hours of practicing, improvising and composing. Ever since I chose to play the trumpet in 4th grade, I have been working up to this point, where my entire body is in perfect harmony – from my diaphragm to my lips, my lungs to my fingers...
“Fifteen. The answer is 15.”
“Are you sure?”
A moment of hesitation, and then, “Yes.”
It was one of my first days tutoring at Tucker Elementary, an inner-city school where 98 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches. My fourth-grade pupil, Darlin, seemed intelligent, but easily distracted and not inclined to study...
I am applying for the master’s program in Statistics and Economic Modeling. Majoring in Information & Computing Science, concentrating in Mathematics, I deeply understand and agree that statistics is not a subfield of mathematics. Math makes sense, while statistics is a way to look at the world from a rational perspective. I believe, just as H.G.Wells said, "Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write."..
As a semi-professional teenager, I've had a lot of experience over the years observing adults in their natural habitats. And though I have found that, for the most part, adults are just larger adolescents with more stable incomes, they possess one peculiarity that never fails to perplex me: they only ever want to know about teenagers' futures. They want to know where we're going and when we'll get there and, quite frankly, it's a little exhausting to repeat, over and over again, that you don't really know...
To be a good writer, you must be a good reader. It’s an undeniable truth, an immutable fact. And with reading, I think, the desire to write must eventually come. Literary phrasing, the rhythm of prose, seeps into the mind and permeates the thoughts. One can’t help but begin to think of the world in terms of chapters and volumes...
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