Undergraduate / Columbia / prudent adventurer ~~~I need suggestion~ [2]

Write an essay which conveys to the reader a sense of who you are. Possible topics may include, but are not limited to, experiences which have shaped your life, the circumstances of your upbringing, your most meaningful intellectual achievement, the way you see the world - the people in it, events great and small, everyday life - or any personal theme which appeals to your imagination.

Ever since I was born, nothing had succeeded at scaring me. I reportedly tried to crawl right after I could sit and to walk right after I could crawl. A few months after I was able to walk, I 'flew' from the top of a ladder with a pair of 'angel's wings', which was my favorite Christmas gift, and unluckily, broke my leg. This made my mom a little upset, 'SHE is a girl, isn't SHE?!'

Yes, I am a girl, with subtle brand of feminism and also a bold and adventurous soul. When I was eight years old, I was invited to my friend Lucy's birthday party at her villa, which had a nice swimming pool that went along with a beautiful back yard. During dinner, Chris knocked a candle over and it fell into a bowl of olive oil, causing a small fire on it. While others were busy putting out the flame, I stared at the bright flame and said to myself, "Why not make it bigger?" When Lucy was saying goodbye to her friends at the door, I stole all the oil in her kitchen and poured it into the swimming pool, making a very thin oil layer floating on the water. 'What are...', before Lucy could start yelling at me, I lit a match and touched the surface of the oil with it gently. The 50-meter-long and 21-meter-wide surface was burning. There was a dead silence. I was shocked by the spectacular scene and Lucy was frightened by my insanity. More to her dismay, I jumped into the water for a better view as the fire was even more incredible viewed from the bottom of the pool. The water blended with fire in harmony. The picture was so unbelievable that I almost forgot to get out of the water and breathe. "Lucy, come on! Get into the water! It would be the best birthday present in your life!" As I took her hand and pulled her to the edge of the pool, she kept stepping back and saying "You must be crazy!"

As I grew older, I did not do frightening things like that any more, but my courage has never stopped growing. I mailed my essays and poems to publishers regardless of a good many refusals my friends had received. I took part in swimming, painting and speech contests though they were not my strong attributes and my opponents were very skilled. I opened an account in the stock market only having limited knowledge of how the stock market worked. I have been keeping learning how to invest through trial and error, which has cost me almost all of my savings. Though I failed from time to time because of my audacious actions, the sporting blood was like the birthmark on my left arm; both could never be erased.

Some elders were always giving me advice like "Be prudent and do only what you are sure of." However, I think the undying misgivings are exactly what weakened the courage and aborted the blooming ideas that I always had. We live in a world which we barely know. The courage and the curiosity of adventurers are all that is needed. Call me an adventurer.

Undergraduate / UC prompt 1---multiculture in school and my contribution [2]

Walking in the campus of my high school, you could easily tell the students of the local division from those of the international division. Students of the local division wore T-shirts and jeans without anything gorgeous and never put on any make up. You could see them having lunch on their way to the library with heavy books under their arms. Serious topics like atomic physics or medieval art styles were usually what they talked about. On the contrary, those who dressed up shiningly with mini skirts or larger-than-usual pants were apparently from the international division. They made their lunch a picnic every day on the lawns in the campus, talking about the new arrivals of Louis Vuitton or the love affairs of their classmates.

I could say without any shame that I'm a member of the local division, which is one of the best local high schools in Shanghai or even in China. We are extremely proud of our academic achievements and good reputation. In our mind, the international division was only for those spoiled kids who had got wealthy parents and never struggle for their own future. But we knew that they were proud of themselves, too. They laughed at our outdated dressing and named us in various derogatory ways. There seemed to be a thick wall between us which could never be pushed over.

Once in a dancing competition, I got to know two girls from the international division of my school. After I told them what we local students thought of them politely, the girls looked surprised and said there must be some misunderstanding between us. They told me that most people in the international division really admired our intelligence and diligence. Though they might look light-hearted, they were all fighting for life. I was shocked. But after a few seconds, I decided to build a bridge across this wide gap.

Then came the LICO-----Local-International Cooperation Organization. At the time my friends and I founded it, there were only five members. We exchanged questions raised by one division about the other. After getting the answers from each other, people in both division were all surprised to find that what they had thought of each other was totally wrong. Local students had a sharp sense of fashion in fact and international students actually studied late into the mid-night. It was such a perfect beginning of my work that people were looking forward to more activities between the two divisions.

During the last two years, the LICO has launched over 20 campaigns, including talent shows, food exhibitions, speech contests, one-day life exchange, etc. So far, there are over 200 students from both divisions working with me to improve the communication between us. The huge magnetic field we made is absorbing more and more cultures, and thoughtful ideas are continuously sparkling. Bands and dancing groups were established together by people from the two divisions and they have won numerous prizes in national and international contests. People of totally different backgrounds never stop making influence on one another. Their study habits and life styles are all changing, as a result of the LICO, in a good way.

Now, whenever I see students from the two divisions talking and laughing like one big family, I feel proud and satisfied from the bottom of my heart. For once in my life, I have been a successful peace-maker who broke the ice!

Undergraduate / Cornell essay - "my affection on mathematics" [5]

College of Arts and Sciences:
Describe your intellectual interests, their evolution, and what makes them exciting to you. Tell us how you will utilize the academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences to further explore your interests, intended major, or field of study.

Here is my essay and I want to know whether it has presented the topic well. Shall I write more about personal experience about math? Thanks for your advice!

My affection on mathematics was destined. I was reportedly fascinated with everything related to numbers when I was only a little girl, such as a toy abacus or number cards. As I grew older, I realized that math was not only numbers. In my mind, math was the origin of the world.

In ancient Greece, math was regarded as the starting point of philosophy, and in Greek, the word "mathematics" meant the basis of knowledge. Numbers were probably the first abstract conception in the human history. It was a great breakthrough that people realized there was something identical between two apples and two oranges. Then the revolutionary invention of zero triggered the deeper thoughts in mathematics and philosophy that we human beings, as well as other nature elements were all granted from zero. Math was filled with glorious stories, and it was of splendid beauty in other fields. Great architectures were built in precise calculation; Newton's theory was based on mathematics facts; and both ancient and modern astronomy used math to further explore the outer space. Furthermore, math has played an indispensable role since people began to trade goods with coins and both accounting and statistics have become two major tools in our banking system and economic world. In the global financial crisis we are facing today, however, math has made a negative contribution. The reason is that the mathematic models are too easy and out-dated. In recent years, mathematic models with strict postulated conditions and intricate theory structures have been admired by investment banks and hedge funds as the main tools to measure financial risks. Although financial institutions have established intricate pricing models for the derivative products of the sub-prime mortgage, facing the sudden reversion of the real estate market, the assumption of the models strayed away from the actual risks of the market, causing the risk-preventing function to fail. So we must keep improving and creating mathematic models to research into the present financial condition.

Among those traits of math, the creative method of solving math problems has played the most significant role in establishing my perception. While other girls in my school were worried that they might fail the exams, I enjoyed absorbing fresh knowledge in advanced courses. I used logical method to think issues happening around. I established math models and statistic charts to evaluate the progress of the organizations I founded and activities I took part in. I also applied them in the stock market and they have brought me a considerable profit. The more I learnt from mathematics, the more I wanted to study and apply it in my life. It is true that I have already been addicted to this fundamental and advanced subject. It has given me a great sense of satisfaction to devote myself to the universe of math.