“You’re not from here, are you?” he states as I get in the Uber. I cringe, then shrug my shoulders. “No, not really.” I feel strange agreeing, and the driver notices how equally true and untrue his remark is, proclaiming surprisedly, “You don’t have an accent,” as he assesses my strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes, markers of my gringaness. I grin, mollified. I worked hard to diminish my accent, for a sense of belonging, of home. I...

According to Benjamin Franklin, “when you're finished changing, you're finished.” This quote has been at the forefront of my mind lately, supported by my thoughts on the relationship between homeostasis and change. The idea that an ever-changing balance creates homeostasis in society means creating gives me peace when the world’s tempo sometimes leaves me feeling dizzy. At Wharton, adaptability is an evident priority, evidenced by its academic flexibility and global perspectives. This adaptability makes me confident that with a...

Math started out as a fun game to me, figuring out how to manipulate numbers in order to get to an answer. However, it has crescendoed into a search into the way the world works. I have gone from Math Olympics—in which the two bronze medals I won inspired me to continue on my mathematical journey—to researching the role of Operations Research into social dynamics. When I entered high school, I enrolled in college-level Pre-Calculus and Calculus classes...

- What do you hope will change about the place where you live. Sometimes I feel caged. Outside, walls loom in front of me, separating homes from neighborhood. These walls bother me, for they mirror internal ones. When I was researching the factors behind motivation in the restaurant business for my IBSL Business Management class’ Internal Assessment, I interviewed several employees of a nearby strip mall. Our conversations have stayed with me, especially their comments that half the clients were �...

Tell us a story that will help us better understand a person, place, or thing you find inspiring. Pandemonium reigned over the room. Delegates shouted on top of each other, pointing at papers that proved them undeniably correct—in their minds. The unmoderated caucus was in full blast. In the midst of the turmoil, the delegation of Australia (my newfound MUN compatriot) and I looked at each, half-grinning and half-grimacing at the vivacity and the chaos. Australia bemoaned the fact...

Never had I anticipated lunch so much until interning at Colorado Centre Water and Fire Department. At first, it was because the monotony of my internship duties—scanning, cleaning, labeling, and folding—was too much for me to bear. This quickly changed when I met the firefighters of Colorado Centre Water and Fire Department. Our lunch-time chats ranged from their encounters with violence on the job—the majority related to drug abuse—to hunting narratives vivified by a continuous stream...

What is square one, and can you actually go back to it? I live in perpetual limbo, never entirely sure of when or where I am. My perception of time and space is so deeply flawed that after meeting me, Kant would have been convinced that there is no such thing as a priori knowledge, completely undermining his initial premise in The Critique of Pure Reason. As you can imagine, I have been lost any number of times over the...