Her hand stung my face. Her words slapped on my face. “Shame on you!” she said before walking away. It was a drowsy summer afternoon when my mother flung her hand at me at the gate of my elementary school. As she walked away, one of my classmates noted, “Wow, that was intense!” My humiliation was complete. That afternoon my mother was infuriated at my ranking of 28th out of 800 in the final, because I did better last time. Even...

I am a prolific author of trashy romance stories. Back in China, my teenage romance stories handwritten on the back of test papers garnered fame as they were passed hand to hand. Students went short of breath reading them in class, partly for fear of getting caught. My reader base expanded to neighboring schools, and loyal fans helped me evade investigation by the school administration. I reveled in undercutting the repressive, Confucian values that permeated our lives. Apparently, the prevailing...

As much as I love science, I always want to invoke a personal renaissance. Michigan College of Literature, Science and Arts and the University of Michigan perfectly resonates with my pursuit to excel in both physics and humanity. Having attained first places in multiple national-level competitions, I have long been an outstanding STEM student, yet my specific passion for physics was sparked not by doing thousands of Olympiad practices but by browsing interesting topics of physics online. Therefore, I am...

Whether it is combating discrimination in my family or empowering Maasai girls through community organizing, I fight social inequality wherever I am and however I can. Because my cousin Lili was adopted, my grandparents maintained that as an outsider, and a girl at that, she should receive no help from the extended family. Naturally sensitive to inequality and prejudice, I shared my toys with her at five and spoke up for her at every family reunion. While none of my...