I enjoy riding a unicycle for fun. Anytime I feel I need a quick break or to get my mind off something, I hop on my unicycle. I first learned to ride using YouTube videos and a lot of practice in the driveway. I can now successfully ride forward, idle, and hop. I enjoy unicycling because it is challenge for me, and I love working at a new trick or mount over and over again until I finally get it...

MIT's department of material science and engineering appeals to me because I love to make things and I want to learn what materials work best for what types of products and why. I build furniture in my free-time, and one of the constraints I put on myself is to use as many repurposed or unusual materials as possible. This has resulted in several interesting pieces such as a pallet bed and copper pipe shelves. I limit myself in this way...

I am the oldest of three children. My parents have been married for 23 years. I have lived in seven different cities and towns since I was born. It has been hard for me to adjust to a new school and new friends every time we move, but it has helped to shape me as a person. I have realized that I want to find a place that I love and can call home. I have enjoyed my current home in...

A Challenge you faced I joined Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) in the spring of 2008 and registered for my first competition in June. In the final match of the tournament I broke my right femur at the growth plate. My parents rushed me to the hospital, where I had surgery the next day. For the next six weeks, I had a full-leg caste and two metal rods in my leg to realign the femur. My immediate reaction was to quit BJJ because...