In tenth grade, I was thrown into my first one-on-one at a nursing home with 93-year-old Mary Gero, with the objective of being her biographer – allowing her to spend her last moments telling the stories that mattered most. That year, I was the only teen from the multilateral youth organization Quixote Quest, who wanted to work with the elderly. My aim was to create a web of recollection for her – and very soon, she hopped onto a revolving cavalcade of...

On February 12th, 2005, when my mother was going to purchase Valentine cards for my first grade classmates, I stopped her: "Leave it to me, mom." She finally gave in, so I grabbed my Crayola marker box and got to work. Two days later, on Valentine's Day, I passed out my handmade cards. "Ew," my peers sneered. My crooked drawings were far from manufactured prints decked with cartoons and complimentary candy. However, these remarks did not discourage me, but rather fueled...

My alumni interview experience with UPenn was extremely casual and easy-going. By coincidence, my interviewer just so happened to be my friend’s dad, so the fact that he already knew who I was calmed my nerves and made for a much more successful interview than I’d expected. As for answering questions, try to be as truthful and honest as possible. One of the most valuable tips that I received was that interviews are not necessarily the right time for you to “show off” all of your accomplishments. You have already all of done that in your college application,...

You want to get teachers to write recommendations who A. Write well and B. Know you well. There were many teachers throughout my high school career who taught classes that I got good grades in, but I never took the time to talk to them personally or introduce them into my world outside of the classroom. Don’t always pick teachers that taught the classes you breezed through- because chances are, these teachers have nothing more to write than, simply, “This kid got a good grade in my class.” I chose three teachers to write my letters of recommendation. The...