I fell in love with Reed College on a toilet. This is more symbolic than it seems; bathrooms have become my rite of passage for the last two years due to my weird intestinal disease. My first “Reed-ers Digest” began when I found a Reed magazine in a bathroom. I had heard about it before, but there was something intriguing about the magazine...
I listened to my sociology teacher read words, which my peers associated with "Mexican," from anonymous note-cards. After ten years in predominantly white private schools, I can’t say I was surprised. But it felt weird hearing my name listed with words that didn't associate with me at all. "Whatever," I thought and shook it off...
Seniors at DCHS head a project to provide Christmas to sixty families around Des Moines. I grouped with seven friends to create Christmas for a family of six. As the only Spanish-speaker, I took the lead in organizing and communicating with our family. We energized our adopted homeroom to donate money and gifts even though they'll never meet the family...
"I have really bad breathe in the morning," says Cady Heron in an effort to fit in with her friends as they complain about minor aspects of their appearance in the movie Mean Girls. I love this line. Mean Girls really took a stab at our culture's concern with looks when the pretty girl from Africa had nothing to complain about, in contrast to the pretty girls from Illinois. Our obsession isn't a secret, but I didn't think it was a huge deal either...
The screaming, the banging and the fresh hole in the wall hardly fazed me. I’d seen much worse from my older sister. Cecilia is bipolar. Mental illness badly skews her perception of the world.You never know what will set her off, but somehow, I was always protected from her wrath. She physically and verbally abused everyone around her, but never hurt me. I was trusted, protected. Under these odd conditions, I felt almost special. I was the only person that she would talk to when she was upset, and I could calm her down and persuade her to do things when no one else could...
If I were to write the story of my life until now, it would be entitled “My Life as a Third Grade Dropout”. In third grade, I was diagnosed with a major illness that required so many hospital visits that I had to leave school for the remainder of the school year. Even though I’ve recovered completely, I feel that the time I spent fighting illness, isolated from my peers and forced to be brave, has greatly defined who I am today...
Innovation and creative freedom intrigue me. Google is developing a new kind of car that functions without a driver. It can automatically navigate roads and highways safely amid normal traffic. This means that people with disabilities and handicaps will be able to travel independently, which, to me, is both groundbreaking and exciting...
I was eight years old when I was cast in my first musical: a kid’s production of Mary Poppins. I was new to the group and at least a head shorter than the other kids. Being cast as Mary was quite a surprise. I remember how special I felt in my oversized costume with my hair and makeup done by my mom. When the audience applauded after my first song, a rush of exhilaration washed over me and filled me with pride...
Language is a wonderous tool that enables people to express emotions, persuade others, and share knowledge. To understand a person, you must first understand the language that they are using. I started to become familiar with the interactions between human behavior and language by learning my second language acquisition, English, and subsequent languages, Malay and Chinese. Gaining an understanding of these other languages has cultivated my appreciation towards cognitive studies...
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