Essay Category:
Essay Question:
Common Application Essay, choice "OTHER." The instructions were 250-500 words, so it is not quite 500 words, but it was my major essay and was successful at several colleges.
I love the rain, especially in the summer when it's been hot and muggy, and the rain starts pouring down with seemingly merciful intentions. It was this type of rain that fell during my second night of work at a local farm stand. Only this was the hardest rain I had ever seen. Although trained to be a cashier, I was assigned to carry customers' groceries out to their cars that night. At first, the rain was no more than steady. Soon, however, it began to pour, harder and harder. Thunder and lightning ripped the night sky. Coming down in blankets, the water pervaded the air. A relentless wind blew the rain at a crazy angle. I felt as if I were in a movie, with the rain a special effect. Customers purchased up to six large paper bags of fruit, vegetables, and prepared foods. I would carry them all on my left arm, and with my right hand, I would hold an umbrella over the customer's head. This may have looked ridiculous, but I was excited to be shielding each customer from the thundering storm. Soon, a line formed at the exit of the store; the shoppers were waiting for me to help them, one by one. Any time I wished to communicate, I had to yell, combatting the din of the deluge of water and the booms of thunder. I took this adventure very seriously. I would protect the full bags so they would not break in the tempest and also the customers, who did not wish to get wet. Several seemed to fear the intense storm. I, on the other hand, was enjoying the water very much; I found it amazing. Although the walk from store to car was short, each arduous, soaking trip felt like a journey. After a while I conceived an idea. Instead of merely accompanying the patrons out to their cars, I decided to greet them with an umbrella as they arrived. When I would see a car entering the parking lot, I would approach the driver's door and escort the customer into the store from the car. Customers reacted with thankful surprise at the unexpected service. Throughout, I enjoyed myself very much. I sensed that this new job would be satisfying. Helping out dozens of people gave me a good feeling about myself. I felt as though my accomplishments that night were heroic, even if they were on a small scale. Since then, at work and in other parts of my life, I have sought more opportunities to spread good will, hoping to affect the world positively in some way. After the last customer drove away, I returned to the store. I was wet from my sneakers to my uniform cap, leaving a river wherever I walked, feeling proud.
Essay Category:
Essay Question:
Please describe which of these activities (extracurricular and personal activities or work experience) has had the most meaning for you, and why.
Many atrocities are committed on a daily basis in this world. As president of Lexington South's Amnesty International Club, I write and send letters and petitions on behalf of political prisoners and others whose human rights have been violated. It is especially satisfying when our group hears from Amnesty International's United States office, with whom we coordinate, that one of these prisoners of has been released. Also, it has been a meaningful experience to delegate responsibilities and organize meetings. During my freshman year, the Amnesty International Club was floundering. There were two meetings that year, with very few members. I took over leadership of the club starting sophomore year; with biweekly meetings featuring six to eight petitions and letters, the club has come alive. Now, at any given meeting there are 30-40 students. To attract more members, I have initiated publicity and refreshments. The club has also 'tabled' in the cafeteria during lunch and during evening concerts. We have also traveled to two antislavery marches in the area. My involvement in Amnesty International has been particularly meaningful because I have been able to make a difference in the world, by increasing awareness at my school of human rights and aiding victims.
Essay Category:
Essay Question:
Describe a teacher who has had the most impact on you.
'All right, you whippersnappers,' he says with friendly endearment, kicking off the day's class. It is Dr. William Hearstrom Latin class, an experience I have enjoyed for three years. He has consistently been my favorite and most interesting teacher. Inspiring his students with his infinite wisdom and dry humor, Dr. Hearstrom is a teacher whose class I always look forward to. Dr. Hearstrom is brilliant; his mind brims with knowledge. He has the uncanny ability to see deep meaning in everything, and to add his own philosophy, which is not by any means close-minded. He often, without irony, will cite an episode of 'The Simpsons' to illustrate a point about an issue in ancient times or in a work we are translating. Class is fun thanks to his sense of humor, which is not always highbrow. The jokes he rattles off are often self-deprecating, usually full of cultural allusions, and always witty. Effortlessly, he mixes humor into his lessons. When we learn new grammar topics, in place of tedious translations, he creates hilarious sentences that contain our names, using a program he created on his computer. He keeps my classmates and me interested because we would not want to miss one of his insightful, amusing nuggets. He knows his students very well and clearly cares about us. He has a fantastic rapport with kids. I have, a couple of times, been late to my next class because of an engaging after-class conversation with him. We converse on topics from Greek mythology to the Red Sox bullpen woes, even relating the two. Dr. Hearstrom has inspired me to be interested in learning. In our study of Latin grammar, literature, art, and history, he encourages us to seek knowledge, to read extra texts, and to ask many questions. He brings a contagious, daily enthusiasm for teaching that inspires me to be passionate about what I do, even outside of class. Through him, I see that with curiosity, enthusiasm, and caring, one can enjoy ones profession and have a positive effect on others. Covering wide ranging subjects, he puts a very interesting spin on them all. Many of the lessons he teaches contain material that will not be on any test. For example, in the middle of a lesson on Augustus' impact on Rome, he went off on a tangent about John F. Kennedy and the void that his death created in the United States. He hopes that we will continue to be intellectually curious like him, and he demonstrates the practice of lifelong learning to us, ever reading and researching. He is the best teacher. Dr. Hearstrom magister optimus est.
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Essay Question:
Major essay, for the Common Application (2003-2004) essay part.
Sibling Rivalry, Tavel-Style I am the fourth born of a large, energetic, and sometimes-a-little-over-the-top family. Altogether, there are seven of us: my parents, my three older sisters and my younger brother. However, don't let the 'younger brother' part of that last sentence fool you. After my formidable parents had four of us in four years, they took an eight-year hiatus before having the next child. During that time, I spent my life mastering the Ken character of the Barbie world and had to undergo frequent, and often very painful, 'cootie' inoculations. Yet looking back, aside from all the days I accidentally wore my sister's purple and pink 'My Little Pony' shirt to nursery school, or the recess periods I was teased for attempting to sit in the 'girl's-only' corner, growing up with three older siblings, their gender aside, has made me into the person I am. Each being one of many, my three sisters, my brother (despite his later arrival) and I, all made it our mission to shine the brightest, and become the most recognized, of the group. In school I do not have a reputation for being super-competitive. In fact, there is rarely a night when my phone doesn't ring with a question from a classmate about the impossible AP History question, or the 'stupid math formula' we need to memorize for tomorrow's test. I help whenever I can, and that is why so many people are surprised when I say that I have spent my whole life trying to leave my siblings - whom I love very much - in the dirt. I do not know when the competition among us started. But judging by our family photo album, it must have been when we were all very young. In many of the snapshots, we are all trying to push each other literally out of the picture. A typical photo would have my oldest sister, Sarah, standing proudly taller than all of us, while the youngest, Amanda, would be crawling between Sarah's legs and mocking her with a silly face. The middle sister, Rachel, would try to steal the show with her best handstand, and I, impervious to the older competition, would proudly show off my best pencil imitation. Yes, this was the Tavel family's idea of a perfect moment in our Disney World vacation. We all grew, as children do, but by no means did competition among us ever cease. Although we learned over time that we would gain the most appreciation from our parents if we pursued our own strengths, we continued to challenge one another with each new accomplishment. For example, when my oldest sister got into college, the rest of us became just as determined as ever to match her success academically (while not necessarily shooting for the same schools). In short, our years together have only brought out our best talents. We have all strived to do incredible things while our parents assumed their position on the sidelines watching with perplexed amazement. The first four of us are now setting off to begin our independent lives. One sister is currently writing a thesis in Japan, another is studying fine art in Spain, while the third has found her niche in the Green Mountains of Vermont. But in spite of the great distances between us, we still maintain our unique and loving relationship. That said, if one of them becomes a senator, I'll have to run for president.
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Essay Question:
Bowdoin College Supplement to the Common App Essay Topic: Write about a teacher you had in high school that influenced you.
Rene Villicaqa: Not Your Ordinary Teacher In tenth grade, I had a history teacher named Rene Villicaqa. He was a short yet well-built Mexican man who probably used a full bottle of hairspray every morning to style his hair. When he wrote on the chalkboard, his whole body, especially his buttocks, shook ferociously, and the class - myself included - could barely breathe as we all struggled to hold back our laughs. If we weren't giggling from watching him dance with the chalkboard, we were probably cracking up over his alternating accents. He spoke English perfectly well, but whenever he would say a word or name that was the same in English as in Spanish, he would give it extra Latino twist and flair. When describing what he did over his winter vacation, he did not stay in Boston, Portland, and Los Angeles, he visited Boston, Portland, and 'loes-AHN-helles!'. We use to joke that every time he said one of these words, he did so with such zeal that his pronouncement could be followed only by some sort of spin move and a bow afterward as he exclaimed, 'Thank you! Thank you&' But Mr. Villicaqa was passionate about teaching. He would sit on one of the tables in the room and speak very deliberately. Intertwined into each of his lessons would be his own revolutionary philosophies and aphorisms (each one followed with a 'Think about it man, is this progress?'). When Mr. Villicaqa became the high school track coach, we discovered that his profound personality was consistent. One day he started a practice instructing everyone not to talk. We went to a waterfall in Central Park and had to lie down by it silently - which wasn't hard because we were at a loss for words anyway - for an hour. At the end of the practice he finally spoke. 'We went to the waterfall today for a reason. That's how I want you all to run this seasonfluidly, like water.' While he evoked a lot of laughter among his students, Mr. Villicaqa made himself the most respected teacher in the school. He was definitely the most strict, nit-picky, and demanding teacher that our class had ever seen. Some of his guidelines pushed students to the edge. He would assign a six-to-ten page paper that could have no more than two grammatical errors. If you had three errors or more, he would take ten points off your grade. The lovely B+ you spent 20 hours in the library working for would become a C+. He would also apply very specific regulations to the size of the font and page margins of a paper, and each assignment had to have a cover page that looked exactly as he specified. Sometimes, he would hold a student's essay up to the light along with one of his template essays to see if the student met these requirements. Nonetheless, most of his students loved him. I have never seen students work so hard and so thoughtfully for a teacher as they did for Rene. I was one of these students. I worked my tail off for Mr. Villicaqa because it was so rewarding to do an assignment well for him and then be congratulated by him after he graded it. There was something about his teaching style that made me feel that what I was doing was really worthwhile. When he taught a class he wasn't just spitting out information at us, but examining everything as well, with personal anecdotes and his trademark commentary. It was an intellectual experience not a class where grades were paramount. For the first time ever, I looked forward to history class. I loved the class discussions. Because of Mr. Villicaqa, I developed a lasting fondness for studying and understanding history. Yet, while he fostered my loved of learning Mr. Villicaqa also fed my desire to understand the world better. During the post-September 11th period, whenever I couldn't understand what was happening, or why, I went to him. He had a different, less nationalistic perspective on the events than everyone else I knew. He taught me about globalization. He offered a rationale why extremists like the Al-Qaeda were willing to attack us so violently. Through him, I acquired the skill of being able to examine issues from all perspectives. Today we are able to joke with Mr. Villicaqa about what it was like being his student. We tease him about how he acted in class. He responds by making fun of us by mimicking our reactions when he gave us difficult assignments. Beyond the teasing however, is a tacit recognition that he really did influence all of us. He was not just a teacher. He was our philosophical mentor.
Essay Category:
Essay Question:
Major essay: topic of my choice
"Ouch, my feet hurt. Ouch, my feet hurt. Ouch, my feet hurt." It had been repeating over and over in my head for the last two miles and would continue to do so with every step I took until we arrived at our campsite. When my brain is filled with thoughts like these, I have trouble remembering why I enjoy putting myself through this type of pain, but it is not always like this. Most thoughts I have while hiking are not thoughts of pain and suffering, but are happy, entertaining, interesting, or at least useful. I went on my first hike soon after I learned how to walk, and I have enjoyed hiking ever since. The types of hikes I have been on have ranged from a quarter of a mile toddling on a paved road to a twenty-two day Outward Bound backpacking trip in the High Sierras. One of the things that I love most about hiking is that it gives me the chance to escape from the constant stimulation of my hectic daily life and to be alone with my thoughts. Sometimes when I hike, the lack of artificial clutter around me somehow stimulates my brain to reorganize itself. It sorts through everything that has happened recently and files it in some way that makes more sense to it. Although I do not understand how or why, I find that, much like how my computer runs much more smoothly because I defragmented its hard drive a few weeks ago, I am much better able to cope with the quick pace of daily life when all of my thoughts are properly organized. Other times, I let my mind wander and think about things that I would never bother to think about otherwise. I remember once when I spent over an hour debating with myself over the merits of paper and plastic bags. I also often find myself thinking about issues that I feel strongly about and determining what I believe. Because I have thought about them at great lengths, I can feel certain of my beliefs, or at least I can be confident that I want my groceries put in plastic bags. On longer hikes when I have more time to think, I will sometimes imagine things. I can become an explorer hacking his way through the thick underbrush of the Amazon Rain Forest or an eagle soaring high above the mountains. As a part of my Outward Bound course, I spent seventy-two hours alone ten miles from the nearest trail. To keep myself entertained, I decided to make up stories about two anthills near the river where I got my water. They became warring kingdoms, space colonies, and giant cities. I would follow individual ants around for hours, imagining what they were doing and what they were saying to each other. Rather than being bored, I entertained myself so well with my knights, spacemen, and businessmen that I was surprised when, on the morning of the fourth day, my time alone was over. I hike because I appreciate the beauty of nature and because I enjoy the conversations that I have while hiking, but most of all, because I love how the unadulterated physical magnificence around me stimulates in me thoughts that I would otherwise never have. After all, while the blisters on my aching feet will heal and fade away with time, I will always be able to carry these thoughts with me.
