I look up. It’s one hundred and ten feet to the top, the best place to view the whole ship. With a harness across my chest and prussic attached, I stand on the rails, put my hands on the metal, and begin to climb. It is my first summer on the tall ship SSV Tole Mour, and I feel just like Jack Sparrow, dreadlocks and all. I don’t dare look down, my legs shaking as I step higher...

I used to think the William Saroyan photograph hanging at my grandmother’s house was my uncle. They both have the same large gray bushy moustache, Saroyan’s slightly lengthier than my uncle’s. As a child, being Armenian was only defined by similarities in appearance- dark hair, brown eyes, old men with large beer bellies- and likeness in food. I now understand that we are a people defined by more than similar facial hair and meat at every meal....

I am not well rounded; I am well sliced, dividing my time amongst all that I feel passionate about- violin, Help Our Planet (HOP) Club, my high school’s recycling program, tennis, and sailing. High school feels like a time of concessions, trying to squeeze every activity into twenty-four hours with barely enough time to reflect on my choices and decisions. After visiting Swarthmore twice and talking to multiple professors and the tennis coach, I believe this is a college...

I open my eyes - it's St. Patrick's Day 2014. Today is the day that Mission Viejo High School will be visited by a magic different than that of a Leprechaun. St. Patrick's Day has never meant anything to me, but today it meant I was going to kick-off my campus-wide recycling program. After unpacking and lining over fifty blue recycling bins, my Help Our Planet Club cohorts and I broke into a frenzy, running like madmen to distribute all the...

My personal statements and essays had the same general theme - I focused what I really cared about as opposed to trying to present myself as someone I was not. Although I might not have given a school an essay they were expecting, in the long run, it displayed my uniqueness and passions accurately.

I eventually chose to apply to Swarthmore College early decision because...

At the moment, my favorite course at Swarthmore is an environmental science course entitled Changemakers. I am currently working with...

I never would have known that most of the students at Swarthmore are so down to earth...

Busy, Driven,...

As a tennis player, I made sure to email coaches of schools I was interested starting in...

Choose one or two extracurricular activities that you are truly passionate and excited...

I interviewed with two schools, Brown University and Swarthmore College, and felt that interviewing was not only a good supplement to...