Every summer, my family and I travel to a small countryside town in Italy to visit my dad’s family, and every winter, we travel to exotic places around the world. My father takes pride in driving his solar-panel-charged electric car to Whole Foods. My mother is a Harvard alumnus who spends her time gardening and going to union rallies. My sister is a combination of the two, but I've never felt drawn to my parents' interests. One day my...

"Do you pass the ball to (name)?" my coach asked like he did every practice. "No," my teammates droned like they always did. It felt like a slap in the face. I wasn't that bad at basketball; I'd made varsity freshman year. For the thousandth time, I felt like walking out the door. But I couldn't. I loved the sport too much, and I'd made a commitment. I was going to be captain. After practice, I'd go home and cry....

Looking on the USC Annenberg website, I came across “Leadership and Team Communication”, a class on working with people on a team. I was excited and couldn’t wait to take the class because my passion is leadership and working with people. I love meeting people from different backgrounds, hearing their stories and issues, trying to help them, or just being a friend to talk to. However, I was crushed to see it was a master’s class. But I...

When I commit myself to something, I commit wholeheartedly. In my junior year, last year’s class sponsor told us we needed to start fundraising for senior year or else our prom would be in the smelly, old gym and our graduation ceremony might not happen. Everyone expected me to do it, but I already felt overcommitted to other clubs. However, when no one stepped up, I had to do something. The first class meeting was chaotic and poorly attended;...

Letter to Future Roommate Since we’ll share a room, I’ll tell you about my current one. I spend most of my time on my bed, so when I bought a new bed, it was very important that it was comfortable. I cross-referenced, charted, and color coded my research so that I could buy the most comfortable things within my budget. Although I love order and structure in my room and my life, I have an ironing board with...

As a child, I loved to go to my mom’s APALA (Asian-Pacific-American Labor Alliance) meetings for the cookies they had. I didn’t understand the importance of APALA as an eight-year-old, but since then I’ve learned the power of being united and the purpose of Asian-Pacific-American organizations: to unite and empower us to succeed and progress. In my freshman year, I participated in Bridging Communities, a program that connects Japanese-American and American-Muslim youth to learn about parallels between...

In my freshman year, I participated in a program called Bridging Communities. The purpose of the program is to learn parallels between WWII Japanese American relocation and Anti-Muslim sentiment after 9/11, and unite the two communities to combat racial tensions together. In the program, I learned the power of being united with other communities. But, most of all, I became aware of the staggering inequality that exists in this country. Through learning about racial tensions and its impact on society, I...

“Leaders become great not because of power, but because of their ability to empower others” –Jack Welch When I first started taking on leadership positions in middle school and at the beginning of high school, I didn’t understand the value of this quote. My groups got things done, but not as effectively as we could have. This is the story of how I learned the true meaning of leadership. As I walked over to my new team at RYLA ...

Throughout high school, I've sought to participate in activities that I am passionate about. This has really helped me with my personal statement. Personal statements don't have to be about the most impressive thing on your resume, they should be about something that has shaped you, something that is important to you, something that you want to pursue in the future.

I would have applied to USC as undeclared. USC has merit scholarships, but has a limit to how many they can give to each major. Since my major ...

I interviewed with Harvard. Although I did not get in, I...

I got into everywhere I applied except for Stanford and Harvard. I even received a scholarship to Pepperdine and a...

I chose USC for several reasons. Their communications school is one of the best in the country. Their students are active members of their community and land internships at top notch companies in their...

The summer before my senior year, I researched career fields that I would be interested. I started by writing a list of the kind of lifestyle I wanted and...