At age sixteen, I was reaching the end of my sophomore year of high school. Unlike most of my friends at this age, I had no car, no license, and a newfound responsibility: a job. My parents had told me that if I wanted adult privileges like a car and license, I would need a job to pay for them. So as my sophomore year came to a close, my new job at Target began. Each week, for twenty to...

The first thing that drew me to Occidental was the impressive 10:1 student-faculty ratio and small class sizes. As a student, I’ve always learned best when I am given individual attention. I find that I feel more comfortable asking questions and speaking my mind in rooms that don't contain hundreds of people. At Oxy I feel confident knowing that I will be treated as more than just a student who's paying tuition. Another thing that set Oxy above the rest...

Up until this year, when confronted with the question of what interested me academically, I didn’t have an answer. I had gone through many courses in my high school career but nothing except biology ever seemed to stick. I loved science, and my AP biology class opened my eyes to a world of new and exciting things. But even then, things always felt kind of lacking. It wasn’t until I began my AP psychology class this year that...

As my time in high school comes to a close, there’s one particular book that I keep coming back to again and again. During my tenth grade year, I read the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. This book entails the journey of Christopher McCandless, a young man who leaves behind all that he has ever known to search for his true self in the Alaskan wilderness. At first I took the book at face value, and it...

If you were to see me in my classroom or my bedroom, one thing you’d probably notice is that I like to keep things orderly. The books and pencils on my desk are strategically organized, along with the clock and lamp on my nightstand. A personal idiosyncrasy I’d use to define me is my need for things to be perfect. Even as a kid I always kept my Hotwheels and stuffed animals neatly in order. Being a perfectionist...

Growing up as a kid being gay was a subject nobody ever really talked about. When the word did come up in conversation it always seemed to carry a negative connotation with it. Sometimes it was an insult thrown around the school locker room and other times it was used to portray a gay character in that week’s television show. When I was fourteen I realized that those characters on television and I might be more alike than I...

Growing up I always knew something about me was different. It wasn’t until I was in eighth grade that I realized what it was: I’m gay. It all finally clicked for me one day during track practice when I caught myself staring down the star of the hundred meter dash. I remember how uneasy I felt those next few weeks as I carried around this newfound information. Everything that I’d ever encountered about being gay seemed to...

I ultimately chose Occidental College because it was the most affordable and I...

The most easily recommended summer activity is to find a job. This is an...

Students at Occidental College are intelligent, personable, laid back, quirky,...

Being in the heart of Los Angeles, California, Occidental offers a variety of cultures...

Find teachers who you got along with and who's class you excelled in. Don't pick that teacher...

Do your best to achieve optimal grades and GPA because...

Nothing particularly set me apart from any other student, I just played upon the fact that...

I chose my schools to apply to based off of their location and if...

I declined other schools mainly because of affordability. Being an out of...

President Obama went to Occidental College...

I would make sure I got my applications done a lot sooner. When you first start applying the deadlines...

I plan to...