Essays / Amherst applicants, do we have to refer to the quote in the essay? [4]

Like in the title, do we have to refer to the quote in the essay? (I know they told us we don't have to refer to the text from which the quote is taken..)

I'm using the #5- difficulty quote, and I feel like it'll be rather weird if I actually had the quote in the essay or if I directly referred to the quote in the essay.

This is the quote:
"Difficulty need not forshadow despair or defeat. Rather achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted."

Undergraduate / Common app short answer; teaching assistant [2]

In the space provided below, please elaborate on one of your activities (extracurricular, personal activities, or work experience) (150 words or fewer).

Any suggestions are welcome! :)

"Ms. Lee, can you teach the class?" Ms. Aoyagi asked. I awkwardly sat on the wooden stall in front of the class. All thirty eyes were clearly on me. Initially, it felt odd teaching people I would fool around with. However, as Ms. Aoyagi asked me to teach more often, I became more serious about my task. Now I constantly think about better ways to teach a material, for example, by creating fun games to engage the students. Sometimes, amazingly, my suggestions turn into main activities of the day.

Being a teaching assistant for the Japanese class has been a truly rewarding experience. I have learned how my day could be more exciting and productive, in school or in elsewhere, by being an active participant than being just an observer. I hope to contribute to the class by improving my Japanese first and coming up with new ideas for classroom activities.

Undergraduate / Williams essay; looking through a window at a significant environment [7]

Imagine looking through a window at any environment that is particularly significant to you. Reflect on the scene, paying close attention to the relation between what you are seeing and why it is meaningful to you. Please limit your statement to 300 words.

Any suggestions to my essay? :)

The hands of the clock point to 8:30. Fifteen minutes until the bell. Mr. Smith has left to get some coffee at the teacher's lounge, leaving me by myself in the band room. I hear mixed sounds coming from a distance. Finding nothing in particular to do, I glance out the window to see students arriving at school.

Two girls in the same lacrosse uniforms, chat excitedly in front of their parked cars. A group of students sit on the picnic table next to the parking lot, leaning against one another. Next to them, are friends questioning each other for their biology test. Out of many students, my eyes turn to the one girl who is strangely shown in black and white, while the rest of the scene stays in color. She stands alone, looking somewhat lost. Her grip onto the school map, which has been reread several times on the spot, tightens as she looks at the unfamiliar people and buildings around her. Please, someone go help her...

"Jiyoooon!" The image of myself two years ago quickly disappears in my head. My friends walk into the band room, waving their hands at me. Soon, my other fellow bandmates come in and start warming up their instruments with some scales. As a familiar, warm, soothing sound begins to fill the room, I look out the window again. This time, I can only see my reflection on the window glass instead of the girl outside. I see myself smiling among a crowd whom I share my love of music with. I become thankful of this place where I could belong to, where I could rest my heart on.

Undergraduate / "marching band camp" An essay of how I spent my summers [4]

Please tell us how you have spent the last two summers (or vacations between school years), if not already detailed in the Common Application. (2500 characters max)

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. :)

I spent a very memorable two weeks of my summer of 2008 at a camp called "Global Scholars," where I met a diverse group of students and counselors who were enthusiastic about understanding the world around them, and about what they could offer in making the world a better place. Our discussions on topics like US-Saudi Arabia relation, war on terrorism, and China's policy on AIDS, opened my eyes to different ideas and perspectives. Also, through "Campaign Idol," my friends and I had a unique opportunity to present our ideas on the rehabilitation of child soldiers.

After the breathtaking Global Scholars experience, I moved onto my first marching band camp. Under the scorching sun, our band started building the year's show, "1964." I learned the basics of marching, of gently rolling my feet across the grass and keeping my chin high, with many others' help. On the last day of the camp, we successfully performed two out of the four parts of the show in front of the crowd, just what we were aiming for. Though my first ever, the performance was less nerve-wracking than I expected, as I realized marching was a collaborative effort of those on the field.

My summer of 2009 was also at two places away from home. I went to a journalism workshop, because I wanted to explore various fields of journalism, including newspapers, televisions, and radios, which were all part of my daily life. I had a chance to ask political journalists about their career paths, learn how to do a stand-up reporting, and develop my writing skills. The most exciting part was, however, meeting inspiring people of my age who were deeply passionate about what they loved, whether it was writing for the school newspaper or taking pictures for the school yearbook.

In August, I returned to the school marching band camp, with more experience and sense of responsibility. As a senior, I tried to help incoming freshmen marchers with basic marching skills and with adjusting to the camp environment, by remembering what was difficult for me as an inexperienced member the year before. Our seemingly endless, sweaty rehearsals at the camp paid off by having a great full performance of "Fiddler on the Roof" a month later.

Not only were both summers simply a break from doing schoolwork, but also a time for me to think about the importance of being passionate as an individual and of being cooperative and responsible as a member of a group. Those two summers will remain irreplaceable from my memory.

Undergraduate / Brown essay; why drawn to the academic fields you indicated [3]

Please tear up this essay, thank you :)

Why are you drawn to the academic fields you indicated in the Anticipated Degree and Academic Interest questions above? (limit: 1000 characters)

Ms. Lim called the twenty-six letters she wrote on the blackboard, the "English Alphabet." They looked strangely beautiful to the third grader's eyes. Six years later, those eyes sparkled with curiosity again, when they saw a poster of neatly written Hiragana, or the Japanese Alphabet, on the classroom wall. However, both times were only beginnings to the long journey that would still continue today.

Learning English and Japanese on top of my mother tongue, Korean, introduced me to the immeasurable depth of every language in encompassing culture and history. But as I delve further into these languages, I am even more fascinated by their universal nature of being able to communicate human emotions and thoughts through literature. I hope studying comparative literature and translation in college will bring me closer to understanding the human race, across time periods, languages, and national boundaries.