In 2010, my best friend and older sister, Kaia, wrote me a letter. She was setting off for college to commence a new phase of her life. I was in 8th grade and unprepared for all the changes set before me. She must have sensed my unease. It wasn’t until I knew for sure that she was permanently perched in her new home, Saint Joseph’s University, that I read the letter she left for me. Illuminated by the light...

Admittedly, my college search has turned up many different results that “fit.” Some colleges are a snug fit; I can pinpoint my place and embrace it for the next four years. Others provide a looser fit, which allows me to slip around switching up my interests at will. The beauty of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania is that it balances both of these approaches, without sacrificing one for the other. From research resources anyone...

If my life has taught me anything, it is that there always lies something to learn or accomplish or share at any given moment. Taking advantage of these chances allows you to influence the world positively, while allowing the world to positively influence you. These tasks require willing participants of motivated mind and spirit. Opportunities that broaden your horizons will vary in many ways, from helping a friend study for midterms to joining a student-run organization to standing at the...

Thomas More was definitely onto something; it is important to distinguish instruction from education. In fact, it is paramount for any scholar to know this distinction. The significance of an academic mind taking an intellectual skill and refining it for the benefit of society is no different from a soldier sharpening a blade to wield in battle, or a sculptor chipping away at a block of marble until it reaches excellence. In the process of an Honors education, I hope...

I only applied to five schools. If I could do...

I used the counselor that the school assigned...

In seeking out recommenders, I went to the teachers whose...

The concept of education used to improve the world....

Opportunities to network, give back to...