I shifted on my seat nervously, tensed the muscles in my calves, and alternatingly tightened and loosened the grasp of my fingers on my oar. As I heard the regatta official call, "Go!" I shoved my weight back and yanked on the oar, half, half, three quarter, then full slide, and the race was on. The wind threw tendrils of my hair into my face, and I spit them out of my mouth, trying to listen for our coxswain, Ang,...

Although I really loved all of the schools that I applied to, I decided to go with University of Colorado Boulder because of a couple of key factors. A really big factor was the cost element, because even with all the aid I received from other schools, they still were more expensive than CU is for...

To get recommendations, definitely focus on teachers, coaches, or community members who you have personally grown a connection with and who you appreciated as a mentor in your time in high school. Both of my recommendation letters came from teachers who I had in my previous years of...