Throughout my childhood, I always knew I wanted to be an architectural or civil engineer, not one who simply designs buildings or remodels old homes, but one who devises structures that are both eco-friendly and culturally inclined to their surroundings. Coming from a Taiwanese mother and a Caucasian father, I grew up living under two somewhat conflicting methods of parenting. My mother is emblematic of the traditional strict Asian parent, while my father is the more lenient and open-minded parent....

UC Berkeley is the #1 public school in the world. It is...