Undergraduate / I have always longed to build my own software; NYU/ Academic interests? [8]

Any help is appreciated!!!

Please be harsh :)
Do I sound too whimsical and romantic but not practical and reasonable? What part do you think should be dropped?
And since I am not a native speaker, please help me with my grammar bugs. THANKS A LOOOOOOT!

NYU's global network provides students with hundreds of academic areas of interest for students to cultivate their intellectual curiosity and to help achieve their career goals. Whether you are entirely undecided about your academic plans or you have a definitive program of study in mind, what are your own academic interests? Feel free to share any thoughts on any particular programs or how you might explore those interests at NYU on any of our campuses.ïźˆ1500charïź‰

"Search results: 0."

I stared at the monitor for a while, kind of astonished, when I saw these words came up with a search engine for the first time. I was fairly young then, still new with computer. However, I had already been intrigued by this magical omnipotent machine, which could answer all my questions and provide me with all software I had wanted. As a little girl, I worshiped it, so my astonishment was understandable.

Then came the excitement. The software I was looking for HAD NOT BEEN DEVELOPED yet. Why not develop it myself? Hundreds of crude ideas bumped in my minds and the possibility to innovate ignited me. However, the excitement was soon replaced by disappointment, because I did not know how to code at all at that time. Then the disappointment eventually turned into growing thirst. A thirst for learning computer science, with which I can incarnate even my most fantastic ideas, enjoy the fun of solving puzzles and create something new.

I have always longed to build my own software, for not only me myself but also others who have needed it. To develop promising software, which meets people's need perfectly, a broad horizon is essential for me. This is one of the reasons for my love for NYUAD, where cultures merge and innovative ideas boom, where students have means like J-terms to get to know the world in a global perspective. Another reason is NYUAD fulfill my desire to study independently by offering students Capstone Project. I believe that, with the help of the pre-professional tracks and resources like academic resource center provided by NYU, one day, I will be able to change the Search results with my software and change the world with my ideas.

ïźˆ1694 char..ïź‰

Undergraduate / Commonapp EC short answer about charity works [6]

Please be harsh, thanks for everyone!

Prompt:: Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below (1000 character maximum).

"Hello, this is Vera, the Minister of Public Relations Department of the Bee Charity. Recently we..."

"Beep--" My call was cut off again. Just like the other 12 calls, I did not even have a chance to introduce the book drive we initiated, although every contact had been carefully selected.

At the age of 11, I once met a little girl who offered to explain the scenery on my journey, but I turned down her offer because I had left my bag on bus. I still remember her begging, "I don't want money. I just want a pen." Her words made me realize that while we were enjoying our life, there were many other children in need. Since then, I have been devoted to charity works. I joined charity where I worked with people who had the same faith. Together we started charity bazaar, initiated cloth drive and raised money for the poor...

I did love charity events. However, I got frustrated with all the cold responses. I did not want to call another potential donor and get embarrassed ever again.

Suddenly the little girl's words and miserable eyes came to my minds.

I picked up my phone and began to dial.

Undergraduate / Power of experience; Common App/ Significant experience [3]

I will really appreciate any help!!!!!

Prompt:Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.

"Why am I here?"

20 days before my first and last SAT2 Tests, stumbling onward the jungle in the Tibetan plateau, with six slippery leeches creeping on my arms, thighs and even head, I couldn't help asking myself.

To enjoy the amazing scenery? To conquer the nature? Or just to escape from sedulous studying?

Apparently not.

I had to be so careful not to fall on the rock, to swamp in the mud or to be washed away by the waterfall that I didn't really have a chance to appreciate the sublime views surrounded, which exhausted me and made studying in a comfortable house seem like a mercy comparably.

So, why am I here?

"Why do you insist on going now? What's to be gained?" I remembered my mother frowning when I told her my determination to go to Metok, the last county in China that does not have road access, right after reading a post written by two gappers looking for tour pals to Metok.

I remembered my answer, too. "I don't exactly know what I will gain but I'm sure the experience will be valuable." I looked into her eyes with a burning desire for Metok, which had long been inside me since I read a book about Metok and a seemly groundless though firm belief.

Ironically, the girl who had had such strong conviction could now see no meaning in this tiring journey. Trekking for 12 hours a day made both my body and minds numb. What else on earth did it give me except for physical pain?

Wondering about its value, I recollected every detail of my journey. I remembered us arguing over a math theory to distract ourselves from physical sufferings, discussing tens of ways of cooking leeches and getting rapturous when someone unexpectedly found a chocolate bar besides ship biscuit. "Well, at least we did have some fun." I thought with a vague smile.

Fun remained to be the only answer for what I had gained for two month, which made me kind of confused and rethink profoundly about my choice, until today when I watched an interview of Ang Lee, the first Asian descent to win the Best Director Oscar. When asked why he chose a tale so hard to shoot and the 3D form he was unfamiliar with, he smiled, " I like doing something I don't know how to do."

His words struck me.

I had never hiked for such a long way, scaled any jokul or trekked through a jungle. Although I had known the difficulties through the book, I didn't know how to get through them and I was still eager to try.

I felt some kind of relieved and mysteriously joyful; not because I had found a reason for my seemly meaningless choice but also because I felt like to some extent, I did understand Ang Lee and he would understand me, too.

Why must there be something to be gained? Or why must there be something you know you are to gain?

Looking back, I found my journey did bring me a lot more than simple joys: hailing for a trash indicating a path when lost in a jokul reminded me to awe the great nature and admit our limitations; trekking 38km on the bumpy mountain path a day taught me to be tenacious, which stimulated me to go through three books for SAT2, 1183 pages totally, in six days and believe in your potential... Most of all, eventually learning from the past experience illustrated the beauty of uncertainty and the meaning of experiencing without knowing what's to be gained.

It is true that my journey to Metok has given me great challenges both mentally and physically but only those who never experience would never get hurt.

Pain changes people; experience creates people.

"Why am I here?" The question recurred.

I'm here, ready to learn, to laugh, to cry, to set off and to EXPERIENCE.

Undergraduate / Guilt; Union College - What frightens you? [3]

Please give me some advice. Any help will be appreciated!

He was a thief.

He ran in haste with a lady handbag, looking back furtively and frequently. I was sure he was a thief. I should have shouted at him, made him stop but it was a dark empty street and I was frightened. I hesitated and he ran away.

When I saw the question, this scene revived in my minds and I cannot help feeling guilty. It is not the thief but the guilt that frightens me. I could and should have helped because I had learned taekwondo for a year; Indomitable Spirit and Integrity are two tenets of Taekwondo. However, I did not help, which makes me full of remorse and compunction. Maybe I would stand out the next time and I would feel better then, but I would never really get rid of the remorse.

Mistakes do not frighten me; they teach me. Although irreparable mistakes teach me, the remorse they bring still frightens me.

Undergraduate / "IMAGINE" ; Smith College - A theme song that describes you best [5]

Is it naive or do it sound like communism...? Please give me some advice... Thank you soooo much! Plus, I am not a native speaker, so I will really appreciate it if you would help correct my grammar mistakes :)

Prompt: Applying to college can be serious business; yet we're eager to get to know you in a less formal way. Have fun answering the following question: If you had a theme song - a piece of music that describes you best - what would it be and why? Please include the name of the song and the artist. (Limit response to 150 words)

"Imagine. Imagine there are no countries, no discrimination, and no violence; people share knowledge and technology with others without selfishness." When I was a little girl, I once murmured my imagination, but was soon interrupted brutally. "NaĂŻve dreamer." Someone laughed, which confused me. Was it really that hard? Why could not the world be as one when people held the same belief? However, it was not the first time and I kept silent finally.

I secretly persisted in my imagination but my confusion did not vanish until I heard <Imagine> by John Lennon for the first time. The song contained exactly the same seemly whimsical imagination as mine. John Lennon confessed he was a dreamer, too. What was different and the most important was he told me I was not the only one.

He was a dreamer; he was a doer. He imagined the heavenly world; he wrote the song. I played the song over and over again; then I wrote this essay.

Listen the song; join me.

Undergraduate / "Ignorance" - What do you miss most from your childhood? - MHC supp [2]

Any advice will be appreciated!! Please help me with my grammar mistakes. I LIKE advices, no matter if it's harsh =v=
Thanks for your help!

[Prompt: What do you miss most from your childhood? Please response to the question in one or two paragraphs.]

If you meet a girl, who can be easily fooled by a swindler, who can be astonished by a little gadget and who cannot answer any difficult academic question, you may sigh toward her, "Poor ignorant girl." However, in my childhood, when I had only learned little about the world, I was such a girl.

Although I have travelled to tens of countries and have met thousands of people and I can detect lies with no effort now, I miss that credulous girl who trusted everyone. In her world, the conception of fraud may have not been established. Romain Rolland once said," There is only one heroism in the world: to see the world as it is and to love it." Of course I love the colorful world I see now, both the bright and dark sides, but the pure world in my childhood is also memorable. Ignorance is sometimes despised, but I do miss it.

Undergraduate / First Prize in National Olympiad in Informatics; Lafayette supp- Why not? [6]

It required a response in 250 words but I made it 314 words...
I would really appreciate it if you would help me shorten it and fix some gramatical mistakes !!!
Thanks a loooooot =)

[Prompt]: In 1777, at the age of 19, the Marquis de Lafayette left a life of privilege and prestige in France and sailed to America to fight for the American Revolution. His family motto guided his sense of adventure and reflects an attitude that pervades Lafayette College today: "Cur Non?" ("Why not?). Based on this motto, discuss a "Why not?" moment in your personal, academic, or social life. Provide a response in 250 words or less.

"Drop it! This is not for you girls!" After seeing my score, the boys laughed at me, the only girl in computer science club.

"Maybe you would better reconsider your choice. You know, most of the members in our club have learned programing for over four years but you have just started it." My teacher tried to dissuade me in a friendlier manner. I had longed to learn programing for years but my score... Embarrassed, I did not know how to response. My teacher smiled comfortingly, " Well, you can think it over. Just if you drop the club, you may have more time to learn something else like math. You are really good at it."

I understood why they said so. I was the only girl in the club who had just taken two lessons and other girls all quitted at that time. I was barely a beginner who scored 12 out of 100 in the competition. Was it possible for such a girl to do well in programming?

However, to me, it is kind of fun to do the impossible. It did not take much time for me to decide that I choose to stay because I believed that if I do not expect the unexpected, I would never find it. Why not be the only one? Why not pursue my love? Why not take the challenge? After my decision, things seemed to go better. I learned and discussed with other members. Sometimes we argued and sometimes we laughed.

After a year's learning, I finally won the First Prize in my region in National Olympiad in Informatics in Provinces. However what I cherished most was not the prize but a special program I developed.

Program Learning;
var Success: boolean;
begin
learn; {Have fun!}
if Success=false then
try harder;
else if Success=true then
learn something new and "impossible";{Have more fun. Why not?}
end.
(314 words)

Undergraduate / Clever peers/Asking Questions/ USC and SHSS ; JACOB UNI [NEW]

I will submit these supplements in no more than 5 hours so it's URGENT and any help WILL BE APPRECIATED!!!

1.
Kai-fu Lee once said,"Smart person is like a gravitational field."Thus,I am absorbed in Jacobs,where hundreds of diverse and intelligent peers from all over the world gather together.Studying with these clever peers enables us to exchange our views and develop a global sense.

Plus,in a research-oriented school,I can further develop my interest in CS and even start independent projects.

2.
Who are you?
Vera Lin.
What are you doing?
Writing an essay for my dream school.
Kidding?
No.
Then why keep asking yourself questions?
Because I am interested in it.
Why?
Because I am curious about the world.
What do you ask?
I ask about everything I desire to know, a math puzzle, a philosophical question, or what is for dinner tonight.
Who may you ask?
Everyone including me myself.
Is not asking others all the time disturbing?
No. We have fun discussing the questions. Pondering upon questions makes us think; exchanging opinions inspires us.
What do you gain from asking questions?
I discover new knowledge and novel ideas.
Why does the discovery matter?
Because the prime reason for living is discovery. The discovery shapes me into a unique person.
Why do you want to be unique?
In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.
Why do you feel you are unique now?
Because I am answering a question by asking questions.
The question is?
What do you find especially interesting.
The answer is?
Asking questions.

3.
Knowledge has no limits. Jacobs's transdisciplinary approach provides me with the opportunity to see the connections between different subjects limitlessly, which is one of the reasons of my love for it. The courses in USC and SHSS will benefit me not only in widening my horizon, but also in formulating deductive strategies, which will further benefit me in my future study and work. It also allows me to pursue my love in both CS and sociology, even though they seem irrelevant at first glance.

Undergraduate / WHY Software Engineering? Goals - Waterloo AIF [2]

Please help me with my grammar and my language... The ddl is 2.8 so it's URGENT T^T... Any help would be appreciated!
I would LIKE to thank your help :D

Question 1 Engineering Interests and Goals Briefly explain why you are interested in engineering and particularly in the program to which you have applied. Comment, for example, on your interests and abilities; your career goals; exposure to engineering through school-related and other experiences; and discussions you have had with engineers, teachers, current or past Waterloo students. (900 character limit)

My grandfather is a math professor and he has taught me all kinds of math games since I was a little girl, so I eventually inherited a strong math interest from him. Cracking math puzzles is like a game to me, so is math competition. I wanted to be a mathematician until later I was captivated by computer. This magical omnipotent machine develops at a terrific speed while it still has a lot that need to be improved. I believe if there is need, there is market.

I always have hundreds of crude ideas bumping in my minds and the possibilities to create ignite me. Software engineering allows me to combine my fascination with math and innovation. Larry Wall needed a more efficient language, and then he created Perl; my goal is to find out what is needed, and then think about it, develop it and incarnate even my boldest and most fantastic ideas.

(848/900)

Question 3 Programming Knowledge Demonstrate that you have experience in developing well-structured, modular programs. For every programming language in which you have at least four months of programming experience, list the language, number of months experience you have in using the language (not how long you have known it), and capacity in which you used the language (e.g., courses completed including marks, work experience, self education). (600 character limit)

My school provides no official programming language courses. Luckily, I was admitted by the school Informatics Olympiad team so I got a coach who taught me Pascal for a year. "Data structure and algorithm design (Pascal Version)" was our textbook. I have used Pascal for over 28 months and practiced a lot.

Also, I have been learning Java through online open courses since 2011. Stanford CS106a is my favorite. I have used Java for more than 15 months and I am going to take AP CS Test this year.

Plus, I have decided to study Python and Lisp recently.
(550/600)

Undergraduate / Reading Interests; Hackers and painters; Waterloo AIF [3]

I have got 1112/900 char... If someone helps me shorten it, I will really appreciate it !!!

Reading Interests (*Required) Discuss a book or a written article that you particularly enjoyed or that has had an impact on you. Preferably choose a book or article that was not part of a course at school. (900 character limit)

"Hackers & Painters" opens a door for me. Its author, Paul Graham, a well-known programmer and venture capitalist, shares his experience in it.

First it talks about nerd life and hacker spirit, fun because it reminds me of my similar experiences when I cannot help working incessantly on a tough problem and when whimsical idea keeps jumping out of my head. I enjoy those moments even though some considers them worthless; the book teaches me to dare to be different and gives me the courage to pass on.

Second, it introduces some knowledge of startup. It tells me that good software needs not only creative ideas but also solid skills. Startup is no way easy but it is kind of fun to do the impossible.

Last, it elaborates the differences between programming languages. It provides me with broader eyesight; it makes me realize that the efficiency of different languages is different and using only one particular programming language may restrain your minds, which stimulates me to learn new languages and to be open-minded.

Most important, I learn that if one does not expect the unexpected, one will not find it.