-To Be Beautiful- Jerk! Rip! Yank! “Ah!” I hollered as Aisha tore out a chunk of my hair with her comb. She locked me between her thighs. “Stop moving! The weave will be loose,” she scolded. “Mommy, why did God give black people bad hair?” I sobbed, salt water cascading down my face as Aisha’s comb continued to knife through my hair. “I don’t know why God didn’t give us good hair like white people’s, but...

Throughout my academic career, I have always had a strong interest in mathematics and science. Physics 400, an honors college-level course, which I took during my sophomore year of high school, strengthened that interest. My teacher, Mrs. Odden, made the class exciting. She presented static friction through a story about her daughters and used a necklace to demonstrate the ideas behind tension and circular motion. Indeed, my amazing mathematics and science teachers have inspired my fascination with engineering. As an engineer,...

Two of the essays I sent to colleges. -To West- When I look at you, The Westing Game, a smile explodes across my face. You were my first love. I laid beneath the gentle, early June sun with eyes for no one but you. The different facets of you, your characters, came to charm me as they evolved. In Turtle Wexler, young and astute, I saw myself; she drew me in like no other. Your entire world was curious, and...

Schools recommend having teachers from senior/junior year write your recommendation letters. However I chose as 1 of my 2 writers, a professor from my sophomore year, because I felt she had a better and more positive understanding of me. 1) SAT or ACT? Default = ACT, but you should take a practice test of each and compare the scores to see which you perform better on… then vigorously prepare for that test.[1] 2) Standardized Test Prep: course of action Read through the prep books. Gather all tips they give. Test/analyze which work for you. Adopt those. Abandon those tips that don’t work....