“God of grace, you have given us minds to know you, hearts to love you and voices to sing your praise. Fill us with your Spirit that we may celebrate your glory and worship you in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” Those were the words I spoke to begin the Sunday service at my local Presbyterian church, home a congregation of nearly five hundred members. There I was, an Asian American, telling a crowd of...

Last year, a student questioned one of my teachers' integrity. My teacher had seen one of her students writing the word "murderer" on a piece of paper. Understandably, my teacher asked the student why she was doing so. The student said that one of her friends from another class had shown her how to spell the word "murderer." At this point, my teacher said half-jokingly, "Well, you better watch out. Your friend might be a terrorist." The student she was...

I am a professional videogamer. Not many people believe me when I tell them this, but if they do, they automatically assume that I spend every waking moment staring at the television with my Gamecube controller in hand. This is hardly the case. I cannot possibly participate in all of my other extracurricular activities if I did not moderate my gaming time. Other naysayers tell me that making a competition out of an activity like videogaming ruins its fun aspect....

“And in fifth place – this person will take the place of any of the top four who cannot take part in the national competition – from Suncrest Middle School....” My heart skipped a beat. So not all four members of the powerhouse Suncrest team would go to nationals. Someone had ended their streak of three consecutive sweeps in the state competition. It was not until three names later that the same woman called me up to take my trophy for second...

Among all the engineering options at MIT, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering intrigues me the most. Materials engineering has been rapidly growing in interest due to the media’s attention to subjects such as nanotechnology. Because several engineering disciplines have been around for so long (civil, chemical, electrical), scientists have found most of what there is to know in those fields. There is, however, many unearthed discoveries in the field of materials science due to its relatively recent...

One day in the summer before eighth grade, I walked into my room and saw my father looking at one of those large road-trip maps. I had not immediately recognized the state on the page, but I eventually realized that it was the mid-Atlantic state of West Virginia. My face apparently had shown an expression of confusion because with an amused look on his face, he beckoned me to come closer, pointed to the capital, Charleston, and told me that...

Many people have heard of Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon in D.” This famous baroque piece attracted many fans and was perhaps the first “pop” music in world history. Recently, a Taiwanese guitarist named Jerry Chang arranged a neo-classical metal version of “Canon in D” dubbed “Canon Rock.” He and numerous other guitarists have demonstrated mastery of this song and it is one of the most popular videos seen on Youtube. When I found out about this new arrangement, I had...

"The wind of freedom blows." Stanford's motto is like an invitation to a place where I can do things according to my own will, but at the same time be carried by a "wind" that will keep me on a path to success. Fortunately, I did not choose Stanford just because of five words. Everything else about the school also suits me perfectly. Stanford has two of the best programs in the nation when it comes to materials engineering and...

The popular group sits at the tables near the entrance to the cafeteria in order to be close to the television. The Goths sit near the windows to be far from everyone else. The hicks occupy the other part of the brighter wing of the cafeteria, across from the Goths. Everyone else who is too different to be accepted into these factions forms another circle of friends, which is located in the corner of the cafeteria. Everybody seems to be...

After I had mailed in the application for Governor's Honors Academy (GHA) in January this year, I had wondered whether or not I had just thrown away three weeks of my summer before senior year. I could not have been more wrong. Every year the state of West Virginia offers to rising seniors a three-week summer program called Governor's Honors Academy. Through a rigorous application process, two students from each county in West Virginia were selected in addition to 55 at-large...

Eating clubs are the main social scene for upperclassmen but...

ORF 309 - Probability and Stochastic Systems Great class...

Ready for the...

Needs...

Relative to other top schools, more...

Did not...

My Princeton interview went well because I mentioned...

Work in a variety of internships...

I was from WV,...

Amazing financial aid program (best in the country...

1/3 Reaches, 1/3...

I work...

Great proximity to...

Princeton gives its financial aid...

Christian fellowship, videogaming...