I always thought acting exercises made people look silly. I wouldn’t be caught dead doing ‘mah mah’s or those stupid ‘eooeoo’ sounds. These feelings posed quite a dilemma for me when I started performing in shows. I received my first big role during my freshman year as a sassy, antagonistic bird in Seussical the Musical. At the start of every day’s rehearsal, the directors would ask the cast to make some weird noises, repeat odd phrases, or...

It wasn’t the moment I stepped onto Brown’s campus that I knew. I didn’t know until the information session. The moment after the school’s representative explained the academic philosophy and described what a typical Brown student was like, my mind was made up. It became my first choice instantaneously. I thought that after many months of college visits and school suggestions from every adult I’ve ever met, my mind might change. But there’s been...

In response to "We all exist within communities or groups of various sizes, origins, and purposes; pick one and tell us why it is important to you, and how it has shaped you." As a freshman, I had an incredibly hard time adjusting. On top of the usual high school transition, I’d just moved over 500 miles to an entirely new environment. I eventually found my place by joining clubs, but it took me a whole semester. I decided then...

In response to "Tell us where you have lived - and for how long - since you were born; whether you've always lived in the same place, or perhaps in a variety of places." The first 5 years of my life were spent in New York City. My father was an NYPD officer during 9/11. Due to the effect of this tragedy, along with my grandmother’s inability to care for my great-grandmother on her own, we moved to a military town...

My first day of high school was off to a rough start. I’d been late to every class so far that day and my trying to remedy the situation by rushing, ended up making me drop all my belongings in a packed stairwell. Little did I know that the worst was yet to come. The bell for 6th period rang. This dawned the start of my lunch hour and it would be the first time since kindergarten that I...