At the United States Academic Decathlon Nationals competition, I was given the impromptu speech topic: What would you do if you were a teacher for a day? My thoughts flew to Mr. Edward “Ted” McNiece, the most notable teacher I have ever met. His quirky teaching methods, genial and compassionate personality, and immense knowledge made him not only an ideal teacher, but also a perfect role model. As a fourth grade gifted class teacher, Mr. McNiece changed my personality and...

Essay I submitted for Penn I like taking things apart. As a child, I harbored a curiosity towards how things worked; my enjoyment for taking things apart manifested physically as I dismantled computers. As a young adult, I still have the same intellectual curiosity towards how things work. Now, though, I disassemble ideas, figuratively taking the world apart to peer at the cogs that run the earth. I fall upon social questions with relish, using both my curiosity and my...

Question: are you moving, moved, or one that moves? “One that moves” defines me in more ways than one. Movement is an intrinsic part of my life; movement is what makes me who I am. My first definition of “move” involves moving from one permanent residence to another. Throughout my seventeen years, I’ve lived in China, Canada, and America; the longest time span I’ve spent in any given country is seven years. Because of my continuous change in...

The best thing you can do for your application when it comes to letters of recommendation is to ask teachers and mentors who ACTUALLY KNOW YOU. Some students think that the best impression...

Cornellians are, first and foremost, intellectually curious: before anything else we are all here to learn about the world around us. We are also ambitious; students are academically, extracurricularly, and professionally driven, and this competitive spirit takes us to amazing heights....

I interviewed with a lot of schools; off the top of my head, I remember Georgetown (my first interview; I'm still in contact with my interviewer), Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, and Penn. Interviews were held in libraries and coffee shops; they...

At a glance, Cornell does not have the best of locations; upon further investigation, you will realize that your first impression is actually quite accurate. Ithaca, NY is not a place for the faint of heart - winters are long and, quite frankly, a real bitch to live through, and everything seems to be uphill...

I'm a Junior Associate for the Society for Women in Business, a Regional Outreach Coordinator of the Food Recovery Network, and the student manager at Cafe Jennie in the Cornell Store. I chose my...