Undergraduate / Solar Cooking - WashU Supplemental: Something that sparks your interest and curiosity [2]

I really appreciate you guys' time and advice!

my math world

As a loyal audience, the most joyful time in middle-school was turning on the TV on time to watch the latest episode of Detective Conan. After the theme song, a gloomy door would open, marking the start of a new story and my brand-new math world.

Math in middle school was only about math. While I did enjoy the process of determining the chord lengths or proving Vieta's theorem, I doubted its practicality in life. Even subtraction and addition learned in primary school were far more useful. But I saw this little detective boy, interpreting the evidence from perspectives of various subjects: math, physics, or pharmacology (transporting bodies using principles of water pressure). Inspired by Conan, I found the essence of math: it is never used alone, and everything is based on math.

The solar cooking project proved my theory about math. After our group bought a vacuum tube and an electronic thermometer, one classmate suggested that the best time to use solar energy must be 12 p.m. But the Conan inside me reminded of the truth of solving problems: interdisciplinary methods. I suggested to measure the interior temperature of the tube, the atmosphere temperature, and the angle between the film and sunlight at different time periods. Then we used mathematical modeling to determine the relationship of those factors. I saw a straight line, where the scattered points on both sides were evenly distributed, forming through various transformations of coefficients. Thus, instead of subjectively deducting, we pinpointed the theoretically optimal time. Besides, when first learning linear algebra, I found no applied value of those matrices. However, one time I was using Google Map, I found I and the map were in two different dimensional worlds. That reminded me of linear mapping which projects one element in space A to space B. I guessed the programmers were actually projecting coordinates in the real 3D world into 2D map, vice versa. Such a perfect example of math and cartography.

There is always a Conan in me, desiring to figure out the truth of the world by combining math and other subjects.

Undergraduate / The story of hedgehog. Common App Essay / Personal Statement about a period that sparked my growth [2]

Hi, guys, this is my personal statement about a period that sparks my growth. Are there any problems?

the new me

For the longest of time, a hedgehog woke up in my bed each day, and she could not leave the house without putting on her thorny skin to protect her soft body inside.

Since primary school, she was an independent learner and a model student who was always ranked in the top 10. She seldom asked questions in class, leading people to believe that she was tough as nails and never had any problems with studies. Reality was that she was afraid of being peeled off the shell to show that she was not perfect.

This summer, flying to America to attend the summer school at Harvard, she was filled with adrenaline, considering a new life in the West, yet the reality kicked her back into the dark cave of despair.

"Hi, I'm Ty," During the orientation, a girl started a conversation with her about chosen courses, "I dropped Chinese because it was hard."
"Really? Chinese?" She responded, "I agree. It has four 'tunes'. But we don't have grammar...we just speak it out."
"What do you mean? Tunes?"
"Um. Never mind." She pretended to be cool, but inside, she knew she had screwed up. She misused "tone" as "tune". She believed that her English was good, but she couldn't even form a logically correct sentence. Frustrated, she chose to complete the orientation alone, fearful of more exposure to her imperfections. The hedgehog was up to her old tricks.

The most crucial blow to her came in the form of red crosses on her multivariable calculus quiz papers. Staring at the tutorial videos containing questions that demanded drawing three-dimensional graphs on the fly, she was wracked with confusion. After hours of staring at the screen, all she achieved was dry eyes and a bruised ego. She wrote down the answers again and again and erased just as many that the paper was about to break. Her roommates' laughter filled the apartment as they enjoyed each other's company while her company was cold nights and homesickness. Staring at her best friend's profile photo, she felt tears dripping down.

Having struggled for three days to complete the three-dimensional draft assignment, she decided to attend the problem session led by the Teacher Assistant. Her apparent failures had removed the imaginary hedgehog spines, and she felt naked when walking into the classroom. No longer was she the perfect one. Now she was just another struggling student. Then, an American student, who was from Phillips Exeter Academy, asked about an obvious problem. No one stared at him condescendingly or murmured about him being stupid. Our hedgehog decided to take a chance, summoned all her courage and said, "I think there's something wrong with me". Suddenly, everyone looked at her puzzlingly. Feeling an electric shock, she forced herself to behave calmly and reformulated her question, "Sorry, I mean there is a problem with my homework". Mimicking the way other people presented problems and using dramatic gestures to help others understand her meaning, she began to get the understanding and support she desperately needed.

Back into the dorm cave, she found the thorns she used to protect herself from others' opinions were ripped. Looking into the mirror, she saw the ugly marks under the rippled thorns while she felt unprecedented peace inside of her heart. The story of that stubborn hedgehog was over. The girl, me, no longer wakes up under a hedgehog's name. I am now embracing the new me not for being perfect but for being courageous. I may not have the sweetest smiles or the highest grades. But I have the courage to become closer and closer to the outstanding group.