(I strode through the tree-lined streets of the West Village one bustling afternoon, scanning my mental to-do list as I exhaled smoke into the crisp autumn air. One year and twenty-two days after moving to New York City, my life was hectic, consumed by prep school, horseback riding, charity work, and an internship at the Agora Gallery, but I was confident and composed, impervious to enervating emotion and in control of my world. That very night, I had plans to...

1: Over the past eighteen years, I have been brazen and petrified, boiling and glacial, but I have never, ever been cool. A mass of contradictions, my life remains inconducive to conformity and indifference. I’m a studious introvert who loves big parties, a free-spirited yogi governed by rigorous self-discipline. Saturday, I am a boxer and Sunday, a ballerina. I contemplate religion while sliding on newly waxed floors in my dad's Notorious B.I.G. dress socks. I hate conflict but...

Question 1: Tell us about a single moment that had an impact on your thoughts or beliefs. Question 2: Why are you drawn to the area of study you indicated?