I woke up and checked my phone. It was 12:30 am. I ate a piece of dark chocolate to keep me awake and launched Runescape, a MMORPG where massive amounts of players interact within a virtual world. I had been playing a few hours a week, then a few hours a day. For part of my eighth grade year, I would get up about midnight and play until 4 or 5 am. This night was no exception. I was walking my character, “Telecomix,”...

I’m a foamer, a railfan, a trainspotter. Ever since I was young, I have been fascinated with trains as a mode of transportation. I built a Lionel model railroad setup in my basement, and as I grew older, researched possible excursions through Seat 61, a train travel website. This led to my successful campaigns for several short family train trips in the US and high speed train travel in Europe. However, my dream was to travel on a transcontinental train....

When I was six, my father gave me an old Macbook from his office. I broke it trying to adjust the disc settings. Then a Dell laptop. I broke that too. Then an IBM Thinkpad. You guessed it, I broke it. My father always believed in the importance of hands on experiences. He has consistently encouraged me to experiment, and not to be afraid of stepping out of my comfort zone. In the case of the broken computers, it piqued...

I am a descendant of German Jews who were Holocaust victims. My sense of connection to my family’s history is complex. Some people take the view that given my family’s past, I should have no interest in Germany and its culture. However, I feel that despite what happened to my family, Germany is part of my family’s identity. I therefore have been trying to learn more about the country and my family’s past. I started by...

As a lifelong Evanstonian, Northwestern has always been a large part of my life. I have always looked up to the Northwestern students and professors I have known. A highlight of my many experiences at NU was recently hearing President Obama speak at Northwestern’s Cahn Auditorium. I have been learning about stocks and options since I was 13. It was incredible to me that I could participate in the economy and create value for myself as an adolescent. By the...