Application Essay Excerpts

On top of the mandatory classical literature I was required to read over the summer before junior year, I was also required to read a book that was randomly assigned from a list of contemporary books. The computer assigned me The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan...

Let’s go back to the time when DNA’s structure was discovered. Back to the time when Watson and Crick received the Noble prize for their work. Let’s rewind and uncover the truth: who really unraveled the mystery of DNA?..

Melinda is the most intelligent, selfless person I have ever known. She is a family practice doctor who dutifully spends endless hours at the hospital, sometimes working for weeks without a day off. Melinda makes friends with the night janitors and her patients adore her for being so kind-hearted. She is a hero to many, and the community distinguishes her as the epitome of perfection...

The mythical French macaron. This iconic sandwich-like pastry is instantly recognizable. People have no problem spending $2-4 for two bites of heaven. The surface of the cookie has the appearance of a perfectly round, pastel pebble found on a beach, with its surface smoothened by time and the unending barrages of waves, while its base is puffy and ruffled...

//And then I said to him, “Sir, you cannot put that ocelot there!” Of course, he was rather miffed at the suggestion that his ocelot was unwelcome in such an establishment, and his face quickly flushed from his original pale blue to a deep, deep orange. This orange was like no orange ever seen before. We were not even sure that it really was orange, but it seemed like the logical choice at the time, and there were no other feasible options.//..

One of my most cherished memories is my involvement in the service learning club at my high school, the Students Helping Out (SHOut) club. My high school offered only grades ten through twelve, and all three years I was actively involved, becoming the president of the club my senior year...

When I was little, I was told that I couldn't be President because I was born in Sweden. As I grew up, I was told that I couldn't help this country because I was one simple person in California. My goal for the future is to be a corporate executive, not so that I can boast and gloat about the money I make, but so that I can change America..

I cannot begin to list the innumerous amounts of times that someone has reacted with surprise or shock when I tell them that I am a third degree black belt in martial arts. Perhaps they were not expecting that the over-achieving, innocent, Swedish girl was actually quite exceptional in defending herself against attackers. Regardless, my karate is something that I see as a lifestyle, not a typical achievement that I would put down on a piece of paper. It has been the constant pillar of support as I have grown up in an ever changing world, and it is something that I will stick with for the rest of my life...

I have lived in Napa since the age of five. I’m raised in California on Swedish ideals, and I am both a California girl and a Swedish teenager...

The world will always be moving. In order to keep up, you have to move with it. I want to be in step with my life, not trying to catch up or grab it by its tail...