The older couple sat a few feet apart to eat dinner from their couch arms, and once finished both rose to wash their hands. Maria’s husband turned their television on upon returning. She had fixed them both a few cups of wine for the show. On television, the glee club arrived. They shyly waved to each other from across their disarrayed seats and splayed sheet music. All the chorus’s lockers held – taped to them or held with magnets –...

I have a few theories as to why we call odd numbers odd. I didn’t examine etymology in forming these thoughts; my ideas are founded in numerical-cultural-environmental speculations alone. For one, we cannot make pairs with odd numbers. You can split any even number into perfect groups of two, whereas with odd numbers, there will always be a remaining un-paired digit. Perhaps we imagine this digit to be “odd”, made awkward by its time spent alone. It is the...

My essays are ultimately about my desire to write fiction. Here is a brief essay that explains this desire, that I sent to U Chicago. More than anything, I want to write good fiction. I want to make stories that are truthful and incite change. While I do not believe in a strict formula for great fiction, I have noticed some general patterns in the education of great writers: time spent studying religion, philosophy, literature, and time in the midst...

Please tell us more about your interest in transferring. Why does Brown appeal to you as a college option? Who or what has influenced your decision to apply? (250 word limit) Brown’s community has influenced my decision to apply. I’ve worked with Brown students for two years on my magazine YUNG, and found these contributors to be unusually engaged with ideas and very willing to include me in their discourse. Many a night I’ve spent discussing the news with Brown contributors via Facebook, always without having met them, or asking for their time. Their readiness to work through...