The show must go on. Even when a fire erupts down the street, rendering the concert hall powerless. Even when the air conditioning fails in the scorching 110-degree heat of Northridge, California. Even when everything that could go wrong… goes wrong. Throughout my classical training, I’ve always had a sense of consistency and forethought drilled into me. My fingers need to be precise to a 64th of an inch on my violin, my brain needs to calculate the interlocking...

The UW Interdisciplinary Honors Program is the epitome of a wanderer’s world - always adapting, exploring, and fueling curiosity. When I tell people that I’d like to become a physician, they assume that I will study biology and the health sciences rigorously, succumbing to a strict path. While I certainly do embrace my love for medicine, I know that compassionate healthcare doesn’t stop at the mere memorization of anatomy. I want to delve into the complexities of...

I wanted to be a cave-aged, creamy wheel of Gruyère more than anything. In the Great American Melting Pot, there’s always the pressure to be the most expensive, refined cheese of them all, while still being able to pleasantly homogenize with the other cheeses. Ironically, even as a musician, I never found a satisfying harmony within myself. Cheese is actually one of my favorite foods; I fancy a fine slice of savory, Sparkenhoe Red Leicester from the UK,...

To: cecc@uw.edu Subject: Honors 393 A: Rhetoric of Science Dear Professor Leah Ceccarelli, Hello! My name is Emily Jeeho Park, and I am a freshman at UW. I’m emailing because I attempted to register for your class (Honors 393 A: Rhetoric of Science) but it seems that the four spots reserved for freshmen have already been filled. I truly believe that I belong in that class, and I’m hoping to convince you to take on one more eager...

Growing up, I never had a doorframe with pencil marks showing my height over the years. Instead, I had Club Med to mark my growth. In my freshman year, I was too afraid even to sign up. Terrified and timid, I slunk past the plethora of various club propaganda plastered along the walls. The only goal in my mind was making it from class to class without being pushed aside by the gargantuan football players. When sophomore year rolled around,...

Far too many people speed through life on autopilot. With the advancement of mobile technology, mindlessness typifies our everyday interactions with the people around us. We forget about the excitement of exploring new territories, ideas, and perspectives. We lose curiosity about the world we take for granted.

Sustaining eye damage from staring into an absurdly bright dissecting microscope, hiking to the highest point of the Santa Monica Mountains at 3AM, admiring every shade of blue in the skies of Kauai, and trekking a mile in an evening gown and heels through the cobblestone streets of Italy.

Kingsway Hall, 1965. Jacqueline du Pré lands the powerful opening chord of the Elgar Cello Concerto, her fingers firm and resolute - it’s six years before her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Her bow flies through the scherzo, capturing every note with delicate accuracy. She completes the recording in one breathtaking attempt.

Regrets? Never. I prefer failure.

Anything that evokes profound satisfaction, to scratch an itch that only true magic can reach. Arthur Rubinstein’s recording of Grieg’s Piano Concerto 2nd movement at precisely four minutes and three seconds and a video of Michael Phelps swimming the 100M Butterfly in the 2008 Beijing Olympics are always effective.

I’ve been preparing for the Primal Scream my entire life. Throughout the years, I’ve practiced screaming into my pillow, out the car window (yes, like a dog), and into my grand piano (with the lid propped up and the pedal pressed for maximum resonance). A battle cry before Dead Week.

Completely immersed in another language. I’d explore the Romance languages first, migrate to the East Asian languages, dabble in the Slavic languages, and then tackle the mighty beast of South Asian languages. This hour would undoubtedly have to take place during dinner time to allow for a cultural dining experience.

I spent four days wheezing for breath in a child-size life jacket, drenched in my efforts to collect water samples from the bottom of a murky pond. I shed a frustrated tear while trying to count hundreds of strands of algae through a microscope that overheated every three minutes. Turns out, algae is not that helpful when it’s cooked in the petri dish. It was undoubtedly the best week of my life. What was previously an innocent curiosity in...

Dear roommate, I’m excited to be spending freshman year with you! If there’s anything you should know about me, it’s that I’m fascinated by medicine. In fact, I’ve compiled a list of scientific conclusions that I’ve made throughout my life as a prospective physician. Owning a sweatshirt is crucial to your education. You’ll witness me studying with the hood up and the strings tightened around my chin. My unsupported research says it mimics...

A white 2018 Chevrolet Malibu with a red leather interior. This is my friend Olivia’s car. This is the car that picks me up at 10PM when I have the sudden urge to rock out to Whitney Houston or attempt to rap every word of Fergalicious. This is the car that I find myself wanting to be in after a particularly mind-numbing practice session or a grueling evening of homework. This is the car that I stick my head out...