Intellectual curiosity should be encouraged, not stifled. Brown’s open-curriculum encourages exposure to different perspectives. Moreover, Brown doesn't just offer an education, but a close-knit community, whether through its Halloween Midnight Organ Recital or the Campus Dance. Moreover, Brown showcases how STEM education and serving the community can be intertwined through classes like Appropriate Technology. Additionally, Brown’s UTRA program would allow me to immediately gain research experience while the Venture Launch Fund would grow my engineering projects into real-world...

Nemo had lost his leg but would never lose his spirit. He never pitied himself, just ignored his impediment and continued on. I felt an instant connection with the tiny kitten. While Nemo’s handicap was obvious, mine wasn’t–it was my age. I had learned that nearly every animal welfare organization refuses to accept teenagers. We were an entire group of potential advocates; it clearly wasted our drive to turn us away. I started the San Jose Animal...

I’ve lived everywhere from ancient Mesopotamia to under the sea. From accompanying Milo into his Phantom Tollbooth to deciphering the rampant symbolism within Joyce’s Ulysses, I forget my small-town home of Milpitas, California and reside within every book I read, taking a little of each world back with me. Some books–like Little Women and Matilda–are cozy, nostalgic homes, full of childhood memories and emotional significance, while others like Catch 22 are exciting, novel vacations in a new...

Looking back, I wish I'd better understood how to articulate my individuality in my essays. At the beginning of the college application process,...