Undergraduate / 'Strong Mechanical Engineer' - Personal Statement 250 words min. Why Transfer? [3]

Personal Essay This personal essay helps us become acquainted with you as a person and student, apart from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will also demonstrate your ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself. Please provide a statement (250 words minimum) that addresses your reasons for transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve, and attach it to your application before submission.

Ain't no mountain high enough
^This is a tentative title. Suggestions are welcomed =)

"Maria Lopez" called the graduation speaker, and as my mom went to accept her bachelors diploma, all I could do was beam with pride. You see, my mom became a Mechanical Engineer at the ripe age of 46 years old. She studied for seven years to get that diploma. She faced all odds. She was the owner of her own machine shop, studied at night and took care of me, her youngest daughter. When things seemed impossible, she pushed on further. If people would tell her she would fail, she brush them off and never lost hope. My mom has always been my greatest source of inspiration and she gave me more than food and shelter. She gave me strength, and showed me that with patience and perseverance I could conquer anything; and as I faced my own challenges, her example kept me going. Now, I follow on her footsteps and although the world says I cannot do it, I say I can.

Many people confuse my determination for stubbornness. The truth is my determination has always been one of my strongest qualities. My aspirations may sometimes seem almost impossible, but I will always find a way. If one approach does not work, I will find another but I will never give up. I learned through life that conformity and contentment does not benefit you at all. It keeps you static, unable to move, to explore, to grow. My current university is a good academic institution but it is not the best for me. My department is not as developed as I want it to be and my resources are very limited. I feel that my classes are not demanding enough, and I do not feel part of the student community. My major is Political Science and want to continue my studies into Law School. Therefore, I need to study at a place that would prepare me for the difficult path of becoming a lawyer. Although, I am grateful that I have the opportunity to go to college, I feel that there is more out there for me.

Accordingly, I am looking for a university that will challenge me beyond my limits. I want to study at a university that will give me the best tools for my future. I want to go to a place that learning does not stop at the classroom but it continues beyond its walls. I believe Cornell not only provides the academic strength I look for but it also provides a student body as passionate as me. I would love to have conversations that goes far beyond modern music and the currents trends, and delves into topics like philosophy, politics and culture. I admire how Cornell University is a place where diversity is celebrated not marginalize. Above all, Cornell gives you options. I love to read and learn and I do not want to confine myself to just one study field; I want to explore many.

Conversely, my current university does not have options. Ever since I attended the International Youth Leadership Conference, I developed a fascination for international relations and all its related topics. At the College of Art and Sciences, I have the opportunity to pursue an International Relation minor, which I assure you I will do. Aside from the world-renowned professors and the diverse activities at the university, Cornell also has programs like Cornell in Washington and Cornell Abroad. While I do want to study at a foreign country at some moment in my student career, my major interest is the Cornell in Washington Program. My ultimate goal in life is to become a congressional representative and participating in such a program is more than just a desire but a dream.

Overall, Cornell University is not just my ideal university but I am your ideal student. I am passionate, willing and eager to learn and research. I want to use every opportunity you give me, and maximize it to its greatest potential. I am not afraid of what might come. I am not afraid of obstacles or difficulties. As I said before one of my greatest qualities is my determination. I will work, push, and do what I have to do to climb my way to the top. As Thomas Paine once said, "The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection."

Note: I had a frnd who reviewed it for me. This were her suggestions:

-To write more about my mom and what an immense impact that was and organize my ideas on how to talk about me being like her.

-Eliminate trashing my university.

-To stick with one tiny element

-Is too repetitive.

I would appreciate any advice you can give me. I also feel that the conclusion is not strong enough.

Undergraduate / History Will be Kind to me for I intend to write it. Cornell Supplement Essay. [18]

In addition to completing the Academic Interest Essay, please choose and discuss a quotation or personal motto that reflects your values and beliefs and tells us something about the kind of person you are. Your response should total approximately 500 to 750 words.

"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it"
- Sir Winston Churchill

When I read this quote, I felt immediately connected to it. Sir Winston Churchill was not bragging about himself. He was not saying I am the greatest thing on earth; therefore, history will write about me. No, Churchill was saying, I will do my best to make the world a better place, so my legacy will always be remembered as good. He knew his purpose, he knew his destiny, the same way I know my purpose, and I know my destiny.

My purpose was apparent the moment I was born. I came into this world as a beautiful 21 inches and 10 pounds baby girl. As you can imagine, I stuck out like a sore thumb at the nursery. Surrounded by 6 pounds or so babies, I was the huge 3-month-old-looking newborn. Since then my entire family knew I was going to be different, very different, and they were right. I always had three distinctive qualities, passionate, talkative and curious. All three combined made up an entertaining formula. If I read a topic I liked, I would become instantly obsessed with it. I just had to learn every detail about it and I would talk endlessly about it too. However, one day, when I was 8 years old, I came across a morbid topic, The Holocaust. I remember being so angry when I was watching Schindler's list. I was sad and furious. How could people be so evil? I asked myself. Don't they realize they are human beings just like them, just like me? Before my mom, brother or sister could realize I was already in my new fad.

Can you imagine an 8 year old looking for information on the Holocaust? I was scared, yes, but not by the blood or the corpses on the pictures. I was scared to think that anything like this could happen for so long and nobody thought of stopping it. I was scared to think what those children must have thought when they felt so much hate towards them. Suddenly, my innocent world shattered. I saw the cruelty of discrimination and injustice. I saw innocence been taken away out of precious lives for no reason. I decided that I was not going to turn a blind eye if an injustice occurred. I was going to speak out and I did. I believed that violence would not solve anything, that words were our strongest weapon. I also believed that if I was not knowledgeable, my beliefs and values were completely fruitless. Therefore, I was driven to learn. As I grew older, I started to comprehend who I was to become. I was going to change the world even if it just one person, I had to make a difference. I needed to know that my existence in this world was not going to be in vain.

The thing about my obsessions is that they are not impractical or fleeting. Each one shaped the way I am. My France obsession made me want to learn French. My obsession with animals made me an animal's right activist. My obsession with creating and food now makes me avid gourmet cook. My obsession with the heroes of WWII led me to Sir Winston Churchill. Finally, my obsession with saving the world, made me apply to this school.

My purpose in life is not just to go to an Ivy League University or to graduate from a top Law School. My purpose is to use all of what I worked so hard for and use it to help those who need it the most. My purpose in life is to change the pattern of this world. My purpose is to inspire others. My purpose is to make this world a better place. Sir Winston Churchill was an admirable and undoubtedly one of the greatest men in history. Nobody could have put in better words who will I become, because; history will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.

Please any advice will be welcome. I am sure it has tons of grammatical mistakes. This is a rough draft. I was told it sounded to cocky.

Undergraduate / Cornell Academic interest essay/ Transfer to CAS/ Culture Night < tentative titl [11]

Hey, everybody!!

Its me, again. Im sure you guys cannot get enough of me. j.k. This is my Academic interest essay, which according to a guy I talked to from admissions is extremely important. So please, be brutal. Please and thank you. Por favor y gracias. S'il vous plaît et merci. :D

PROMPT:
Tell us what you would like to major in at Cornell and why, how your past academic or work experience influenced your decision, and how transferring to Cornell would further your academic interests. Between 500 and 750 words.

Its 2:30 a.m. and I am sitting in a moss green chair with golden details around it. I am looking around me, trying to capture a 360 degrees view of the place. I loved the typical hotel-conference-room- aroma, complemented by a navy blue carpet and orange curtains. The room was colorful and bright, fitting for the group of people in it. It was the South Africans turn to present their country. They were eight of them all of different shapes and sizes, but all proud of being from South Africa. They started singing their anthem, some knew it, and others laughed at their own attempt at singing but their cheery energy transcended far beyond from where they were standing. Everybody in the audience was enjoying a new part of their performance, a skit of how South Africans react while watching soccer. Meanwhile, I came to a personal breakthrough. I finally realized what was missing.

Culture Night finally ended and we were all back at our hotel rooms. I take off my Puerto Rico's national costume and put on my favorite green apple pajamas. As I lay down on my bed, I saw my International Youth Leadership Conference guidebook on my nightstand. I pick it up and start contemplating its cover. It was orange with its title "The 17th International Youth Leadership Conference January 2009" written in big bold black letters. Underneath it was a picture of the past participants of the conference during last summer. They were around 90 students from all over the world, all of them smiling vivaciously at the camera. I started to think about what I realized during Culture Night. For months, I felt that I was loosing interest in the Political Science. I felt tormented by the fact that something I had always loved was somehow loosing its grip on me. However, being there at the conference not only reassured my passion in Political Science but I realized what I was really lacking was a focus, a focus within the Political Science major.

During the conference, I experienced many new things. I was part of a mock European Parliament, I represented China in a simulation of a UN Security Council, and I was the key witnesses in a mock International Court Trial. All of these events awoke a new urge in me; I was slowly falling in love with International Relations. When I arrived back home, I quickly began to look for information of what I had to do to declare an International Relations minor, only to be slapped by a rude awakening. My university offered no such thing. On the other hand, Cornell does.

At Cornell University, I will be declaring my major in Government. The main difference between Cornell's Government major and the Political Science of my university is that Government expands its courses on a much deeper range from economy to sociology, to the study of the politics on a variety of countries. It also presents me with the opportunity to concentrate in a specific part in Government, which in my case are International Relations. I began to research Cornell Courses of Study and found classes like International Law, Ethics in International Relations, Comparative Foreign Policy, New Forces in International Politics, etc that met my new-found passion for the international studies. Meanwhile, other classes like Politics and Culture, Interpreting Race and Racism: Du Bois, Social Political Philosophy, fulfilled my interest in the philosophy and psychology part of politics. At that moment, it became apparent almost instantly how the Government major was a perfect fit for me.

I will never forget the picture in front of the guidebook. Those 90 students represented so much more than a past alumni to me. Each of them represented my dreams, my goals and ultimately, the person I am to become. That faithful night changed so many aspects of my life. It not just helped me realize where my true passion lies but it showed there some much more out there. I want to explore new things. I want to embrace them. I want to immerse myself in knowledge and experience a new world. Moreover, I know that by going to Cornell, I will be taking one-step forward towards getting what I want. By going to Cornell, my path to realization can truly begin.

Notes:

The word count is 717.

After re-reading it, I think maybe I should skip culture night and start directly with the picture. Just a thought.

This is a rough draft. So I am sure there some corrections needed. The writer's block is gone. Thank God. I feel like Im getting my mojo back ;) *claps*

Undergraduate / Cooking, for me, is like art. Common App Short Answer [4]

Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities, personal activities or work experiences in the space below or on an attached sheet (150 words or fewer).

On Monday, I visited France. On Tuesday, I visited Morocco. On Wednesday, I visited Japan. On Thursday, I visited Italy. Every day of the week, I encounter a new culture, through my taste buds. The world's cuisine is such an interesting and exciting way to explore new boundaries. I love cooking, especially when it involves cooking new and unexpected things. Food can so easily transport you to so many dimensions. It can affect you emotionally, physically and mentally. Cooking, for me, is like art. The ingredients are the paints, the cooking utensils are the brushes and the plate is your empty canvas. When you paint, you leave the world around you and before you know it, you feel like you are inside the painting. The same thing happens to me when I cook. You start with nothing, but at the end, you finish up with a masterpiece.

Note:

The word count is 147 words.

Thanks again, in advance.