When I was little my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, but being a small child I didn’t know what was going on. I knew was that she wasn’t feeling well and that one day she had thick dark hair and the next she had none. She laughed about it and I laughed too, but subconsciously I knew that something was wrong. I developed severe separation anxiety whenever I was away from her. I had no way to...

I have always struggled in math class. Even so when I entered high school, I signed up for the honors math courses. I liked the challenge, even if my grades weren't that great and the class made me stressed. I may have been just stubborn, but it wasn't until my senior year I gave in to my abilities and moved down to the easier course. The cause for my surrender was my experience in my junior Algebra 2 class. I began...

The program that I belong to at my school allows students of certain grades monthly field trips in the fall to college campuses in Illinois, Wisconsin, and some in Indiana. I attended all of the trips, all ten of them, for more experience for my future college planning. They all passed before me in a blur, but Illinois Wesleyan is the one that stood out. It is the only one that I remember clearly, even two years later among all...

I have loved words since I was little. I learned to read when I was four. I love to read words, write words, listen to words. This passion began the moment I saw a children’s history book at a local bookstore when I was seven. It was about ancient Asian civilizations, and I was so absorbed by the book my dad had to buy it for me in order to leave the store. My interest was piqued. Since then...

My high school cross country team is my family. We experience everything together, practicing endurance in a difficult sport. As a child, I ran with my big sister, but I only learned to love running with people when I joined the cross country team my freshman year in high school. For four years, my team has volunteered at the Chicago Marathon. I love what we do. Our work is just the small stuff, but it is so much fun. We...

My social capacity was stunted as a very young child. At six, my mother became desperately ill with cancer that kept coming back in various spots until it finally killed her when I was twelve. The back story is complicated, but let it suffice that decisions were made, and I ran away. I ran from my sister and a loving stepfather. I ran from the house where my mom died. I landed with a father who didn’t know me...

I was having trouble deciding where to apply because I didn't know what I wanted to major in so my dad told me I should think about a few factors: distance from home, in or out of state, costs, scholarships, whether it has lots of majors...

I decided the best approach for me was to first go to a community college before going into a big university since I would save money. In order to have...

My favorite course would have to be my very first psychology course. I went to college not knowing what I...

It is a little hard to explain, but simply the moment I walked around campus I felt like I belonged there. The trees, the buildings, the smells, I felt...

If there were a few things I'd want to go back and change, i'd want to have started...