Undergraduate / 'I am an open person' - Stanford- Letter to Roommate [6]

Write a letter to your future roommate at Stanford

Well, I guess we will be spending our first year at Stanford together, so I think it would be best if we got to know each other. I am very interested in international affairs and consider myself an international citizen. In addition, I can speak six languages- English, Tamil, Kannada, French, Dutch, and Swedish. I can speak the former three fluently. I also know random trivia that no one would ever care to know because it is so obscure. You're going to have to get used to me rambling on about random trivia that you would have never even thought of. I guess it's just my pastime. I guess it's just my pastime. For example, did you know that the capital of the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands is Arnhem? And that the word smorgasbord comes from Swedish where "smorgĺs" means sandwich and "bord" means table? That's just a sampling.

I am also a huge Pittsburgh Steelers football fan. You should get accustomed to me being stranded at my laptop watching the Steelers game every Sunday during the fall semester and being beyond contact. Although I am from Washington, I support the Pittsburgh Steelers for two reasons. First, the Washington Redskins are an awful team who will never progress anywhere. Second, the first football game I ever watched was a Pittsburgh Steelers game and they left a good first impression on me. If I were you, I'd get accustomed to see a terrible towel hanging from the wall of the dorm as well as a poster of Michael Jackson. I thoroughly music in general from the 1980s be it rap, pop, or rock. Otherwise, I enjoy psychedelic trance, real hip-hop (not that Lil' Wayne nonsense), and other electronic music.

If there is one final thing you should know about me, it is that I am an open person I have no qualms in trying new things. So if you want to show me something new, go right ahead, I encourage it! I always enjoy learning about new things. I think of it as a way to broaden my horizons both intellectually and culturally. I look forward to meeting you and having a great freshman year at Stanford!

I'm trying to cut down on some characters, so please help me out with that.

Thanks.

Undergraduate / Becoming a smarter person it's a natural part of growing up - Stanford; Intellectual Development [6]

Prompt: Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development.

Everyone has that moment in their life when they realize that they have become a smarter person- it's a natural part of growing up. Although it took a long time for me to undergo this experience, it has nonetheless happened and had a major impact on my intellectual development.

Before my junior year in high school, I had an unsatisfactory academic record, especially for a school such as Stanford. I didn't care much about my future and had virtually no interest in succeeding, despite a crumbling economy and less than stellar job prospects. However, the summer before my junior year, I saw many of my friends go to top-notch universities with grades that I could only dream of. Honestly, this made me a little jealous and frustrated mainly because I knew I could do as well as them, but I had nothing to show for. That revelation changed me radically. So that year, I received grades that deviated greatly from my previous record. It surprised many, even my parents. However, it did not surprise me because I knew I was capable of this level of success.

During my junior year, I also took one of the most intellectually stimulating classes of my life. A class, which in my opinion, was the first one that taught me how to think. After I struggled through the first quarter in AP Physics B and by some miracle managed a B+, I decided that I really had to put more effort. However, when I tried practice problems, I couldn't get anywhere and that frustrated me even more. Luckily, I had a teacher who had every type of award in teaching who helped me a lot. But she didn't help me with solving physics problems- she helped me with thinking critically. After that, I all of a sudden started receiving A's and the tests began to seem easier to me. Her reply to my success was "the class isn't any easier; you've just become smarter". Truer words could not have been spoken. I guess you could say that my junior year in high school was the turning point in my intellectual development.

Please, feel free to make any edits, I can take criticism!

Undergraduate / 'John F. Kennedy was Catholic' - What Matters and Why? (Stanford) [2]

The world wouldn't be the kind of place it is today if people weren't open and accepting to new ideas. It is what has helped the world progress and it is what is most important to me. I take pride in being an open person because I know that no matter the situation, openness will always lead to progress in something.

Many people are sometimes uncomfortable with being open because it can be something different that is a threat to their current way of living. However, people must also understand that they must at least give the idea a chance. If it fails, then it is acceptable to reject it. However, they were at least still open to the idea at first. Sure, it does take time to get accustomed to something new in your life, but it doesn't mean it's always bad. In fact, many a time, change has been good for society.

When John F. Kennedy ran for president, many people didn't want him in office because he was Catholic. However, after delivering the speech about how his being Catholic shouldn't matter, many people opened up to him. And what was the result? He created NASA, without which we wouldn't have lost to the Soviets in the Space Race, limited nuclear testing between the two nations, and integrated public facilities. If Americans people hadn't opened up to him, we would have most certainly been at a huge disadvantage during the Cold War and minorities in the United States would have had to wait longer to get their rights.

Why does it matter to me personally? I've experienced firsthand the idea that progress will come of openness. When I was forced to learn French, I was convinced at first it would get me nowhere. However, I have found learning languages intriguing and fun that I can now communicate with others in their own language and that I could be understood in many places, and now I can speak six languages! If I hadn't opened up to this in the first place, then I wouldn't have had this much fun with languages and I would be much less aware of other cultures.

I honestly need all sorts of help on this essay. Please help me out here!