“Wait, what! I was wondering why I ran into you all the time!” The sounds of shock, confusion, and astonishment emanated from the mouths of my cross country teammates. After almost three months of attending classes and running together every day, they suddenly found out my darkest secret. No, I did not possess the power of teleportation or Hermione Granger’s time turner, but I had something even more powerful: an identical twin. I never tried to keep the existence...

I am drawn to Brown because of the immense power the institution gives its students to create their own paths. Of course, this commitment manifests itself in the academic realm through the open curriculum and the opportunity to design my own concentration. However, this ability to control my college experience and explore all corners of what Brown has to offer reaches into all sectors of the undergraduate experience at Brown: I can see myself enjoying a run with other Brown...

In the fall of my senior year, an extra dimension was added to my life—the numbers, integrals, and functions of “x” and “y” I had used for years to work through my mathematics courses suddenly found a new crony, the variable “z”. When I first became acquainted with “z”, I wasn’t sure what to think. “Z” barged in on the assembly of letters and numbers that I knew how to work with. How could I make sense of...

I stumbled upon running by accident—literally, stumbled, as I hobbled into practice on the first day of freshman year with braces on both knees. I had recently quit soccer and cross country was the only sport that did not hold tryouts, so I decided to give it a go. Since then, running has transformed me from a lanky and reserved freshman into the strong leader I am today. Under the guidance of dedicated coaches and fellow runners, I learned...

From a young age, I have been a very quantitative thinker. My brain fills with a rush of satisfaction as I verify a trigonometric identity, solve a brain teaser, or even get the junk on my dresser to arrange into a perfect square. There is something so comforting about having the right answer, the only right answer. Yet, this same mindset carries across the spectrum to my endeavors in writing. I am formulaic, piecing together the perfect essay with quotes...

My home is Washington, DC. This city is more than a scenic backdrop to my maturation—it provides me with a rich community of resources that allow me to do meaningful fieldwork in all areas of my life. Trips to the Air and Space Museum with my mom on rainy Saturdays first sparked my interest in astronomy. The exhilaration of running races with my dad by the monuments prompted me to try out cross country running my freshman year. And...

When I first pulled into the bumpy, dirt road leading into Camp Nashoba North, I had no idea that it would transform me so profoundly. But, it did—camp was the place I learned the value of understanding other cultures from my Brazilian and French cabinmates, the place I learned resilience and dedication as I fumbled and faceplanted on waterskis, and the place I trusted in myself enough to teach dozens of ten-year-olds the magic of darkroom photography. A timid...