Posts by CCRMA

CCRMA

Dec 1, 2012

Undergraduate / Albion College Prompt: Tell us something unique about you; Music is beautiful to me [3]

PROMPT:Albion College would like to get to know you better, beyond your academic record and standardized test scores. Please use the space provided to tell us more about you. Creativity is encouraged as there are no right or wrong answers! Tell us something unique about you, an experience that changed you, some of your favorite things or something that makes you stand out. We want to know who you are.

So... who are you?

What makes us who we are? Our DNA, genes, personality, etc.? In my opinion all of that and more makes everyone unique. I hypothesize that the things that people believe are beautiful and the things that bring people happiness are a major factor in how unique a person is. Some of the things that I find beautiful and bring me happiness include various types of art and music.

I believe that just about every aspect of art is beautiful. Everything from sketches to photography, bring me peace and inspire me to do greater things in life than I could ever imagine. When I see art pieces that I absolutely love, I usually immediately begin thinking in depth about various things all at once. I often speculate about why the artist decided present the art the way he or she did and wonder if certain emotions the artist may have been feeling influenced the way the art was presented. The most inspiring art pieces make me think about how I could help make other peoples' and my own life better. It brings me the utmost joy when the art piece is my own. Composing my own artwork also makes me start to think in depth about various things. Although, when I take pictures of people in their everyday lives and various types of flowers my train of thought is more peaceful. Music has a similar effect as looking and capturing art does, but is somewhat different.

Music is beautiful to me because it is powerful and can have a transformational effect on peoples' lives. Music can make people feel better when their feeling upset. Music can people feel like their being understood when they feel as if they're not. In my opinion, music can inspire people to do different things in life they've never done before. Because of this reason, I listen to just about every single type of genre of music there is and encourage others to so too. The very thought of listening to music makes me feel elated. If music feels this way to me then imagine how it feels to others, especially those who play an instrument they love. Music is very beautiful, maybe more so than art.

I find beauty in the things that bring me the most happiness. As people say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and I believe that it can be found in the most unique places. The things people believe are beautiful is a strong indicator on who they are.

CCRMA

Dec 1, 2012

Undergraduate / The Apple Incident; Common app [5]

I don't believe you need a title
The apple incident
As I stood on my seat, I could see all the eyes that were judging me for the misdemeanor I had conducted. The teachers were looking at me with disdain. "Why are they all looking at only me?", I thought and looked beside me and to my dissappointment , my friend was still in her seat.

The incident took place when I was in my sophomore year in high school. We really wanted to attend a singing competition that was being held in our school but because of the big size of the student body in our school, only half of us were taken to see the competition. My friends planned to sneak out of class to watch it but I was very sure that if we just asked the teachers to let us go, they would. I was wrong. Not only did they turn us down, they accompanied us to our class so that we would not sneak away. All my friends were furious at me for having suggested that we ask the teachers.

With glum, we sat in class and attended the boring lecture with all of our attention to the little bit of what could be heard of the singing competition that took place more than a 100 feet away. My best friend, who sat next to me was the most angry. I was trying to calm her down while pretending to be listening to the lecture when she suddenly found a half bitten apple and threw it across class rather impulsively. To make matters worse, it flew and landed right on the shoulder of the teacher.

We were both terrified. I knew that is not where she aimed her throw, but who would believe us? In a matter of minutes, our class teacher was in the class with the lecturer and they were interrogating us. "Who did this?", they would ask with scorn in their voices and no one would respond. I whispered to my friends that she should stand up and nothing would happen but she already knew where my suggestions had taken her before. The lecturer threatened us stating that if someone does not own up, he would never teach us again. My friend then made me an offer. She asked me to stand up with her. I knew she was scared and could never do it alone, so I agreed. We agreed to count to 3 and stand up at once. 1, 2, 3... I was up. She was not. After taking a moment to realize what I had done, I looked at her and with a sense of guilt, she stood up. We were taken to the teacher's lounge and threatened to be suspended without anyone even hearing our story. "Suspension", a teacher would call, "restigation" the other would improvise. After some time my friend took the blame on herself and the matter was resolved only by having a talk with our parents.

Many know of this story in my school now. Many respond to it by calling me foolish for taking the blame for something I had not done. Teachers mostly would say that its nice to be faithful to your friends but it is not good to support them in wrong doing. But what they do not understand is, I was not just being loyal to a friend. I was doing the right thing. If I had refused to stand up with her, she would not have stood up at all, which would have made the whole class suffer. I was doing the right thing because I was making someone admit the truth. If I had refused, the she would never have owned up to it. If I complained about her, she could have easily refused. What I did is make her act truthful. People can think otherwise of my act, but I do not mind being characterized negatively as long as I know what I am doing is right.

CCRMA

Dec 1, 2012

Undergraduate / The Apple Incident; Common app [5]

~~The apple incident~~I don't believe you need a title if it's for a college application essay
As I stood on my seat, I could see all the eyes that were judging me for the misdemeanor I had conducted. The teachers were looking at me with disdain. "Why are they all looking at only me?", I thought and looked beside me and to my dissappointment , my friend was still in her seat.

The incident took place when I was in my sophomore year in high school. We really wanted to attend a singing competition that was being held in our school but because of the big size of the student body in our school, only half of us were taken to see the competition. My friends planned to sneak out of class to watch it but I was very sure that if we just asked the teachers to let us go, they would. I was wrong. Not only did they turn us down, they accompanied us to our class so that we would not sneak away. All my friends were furious ~~at me for having~~since I suggested that we ask the teachers.

With glum, we sat in class and attended the boring lecture with all of our attention to ~~the little bit of~~ what could be heard of the singing competition that took place more than a 100 feet away. My best friend, who sat next to me was the most angry. I was trying to calm her down while pretending to be listening to the lecture when she suddenly found a half bitten apple and threw it across class rather impulsively. To make matters worse, it flew and landed right on the shoulder of the teacher.

We were both terrified. I knew that is not where she aimed her throw, but who would believe us? In a matter of minutes, our class teacher was in the class with the lecturer and they were interrogating us. "Who did this?", they ~~would~~ asked with scorn in their voices and no one ~~would~~ responded . I whispered to my friends that she should stand up and nothing would happen but she already knew where my suggestions had taken her before. The lecturer threatened us stating that if someone does not own up, he would never teach us again. My friend then made me an offer. She asked me to stand up with her. I knew she was scared and ~~could never~~wouldn't do it alone, so I agreed. We agreed to count to 3 and stand up at once. ~~1, 2, 3...~~At 3 , I was up.and~~She~~she was not. ~~After taking a moment to realize what I had done,~~ I looked at her and with a sense of ~~guilt~~betrayal and she stood up. We were taken to the teacher's lounge and threatened to be suspended without anyone even hearing our story. ~~"Suspension", a teacher would call, "restigation" the other would improvise.~~ After some time my friend took the blame on herself and the matter was resolved only by having a talk with our parents.

Many know of this story in my school now.and most~~Many~~ respond to it by calling me foolish for taking the blame for something I had not done. Teachers mostly ~~would~~ say that its nice to be faithful to your friends but it is not good to support them in wrong doing. But ~~what~~ they do not understand ~~is,~~ that I was not just being loyal to a friend. I was doing the right thing. If I had refused to stand up with her, she would not have stood up at all, which would have made the whole class suffer. ~~I was doing the right thing because I was making someone admit the truth. If I had refused, the she would never have owned up to it. If I complained about her, she could have easily refused.~~ What I did is make her act truthful. People can think otherwise of my act, but I do not mind being characterized negatively as long as I know what I am doing is right.

I loved this story. I could imagine the details as I read them. I hope my edits are helpful to you.