Undergraduate / NYU Supplements: "Global Health", "Why NYC" & "Alice in Wonderland" [8]

Is there any details I can add/subtract?

Please tell us what led you to select both your anticipated academic area(s) of study and the NYU school / college / program or the Abu Dhabi campus. What interests you most about your intended discipline? Mention any extracurricular or non-school-related activities or experiences that demonstrate your interest.

Through the experience of working for 14 months at a shelter and Health Center for Latino immigrants in Texas, I gained a strong desire to work towards a solution for better health care for the world. At the Gallatin School of Individualized Study I would create a concentration combining Public Health with International Development and Politics, as I am drawn to the idea of studying how the environment, culture and politics of a country or region affects the development and health of its people. 500 characters

NYU is 'In and of the City' and 'In and of the World.' What does the concept of a global network university mean to you? How do you think studying in New York City or one of NYU's global sites would change you as a person and equip you to build cross-cultural relationships at NYU and beyond?

Growing up in a multi-national intentional community, I loved learning about different cultures and languages, and the passion remained as I traveled in the US and Europe since graduating high school 4 years ago. There is no better place to study than NYU, a global university in a pulsating city, which encompasses everything I have learned on my travels and where I can continue to build on my experiences, in the classroom and from the diversity of the opportunities and people that surround NYU. 499 characters

If you had the opportunity to bring any person -- past or present, fictional or nonfictional -- to a place that is special to you (your hometown or country, a favorite location, etc), who would you bring and why? Tell us what you would share with that person.

Alice, from Tim Burton's 2010 film "Alice in Wonderland" has influenced me to remain true to myself. We'd sit in the rose gardens in Regent's Park, my favorite place when I lived in London and similar to where she'd have seen the White Rabbit. I'd discuss with her how I, like her, sometimes feel like I have lost my "muchness", that life is sometimes like a journey through Wonderland to discover myself and my own voice so that I can have the courage to fight the Jabberwockys that cross my path. 498 characters

Undergraduate / "Casa Juan Diego" Common App 150 word essay of a work experience [3]

From the street the building looks like a dirty warehouse with two big metal doors guarding the entrance. A tall white fence circles the yard to the side of the doors and a faded wooden wind chime swings in the hot Texas breeze. But as the saying goes "Don't judge a book by it's cover", so it was true with Casa Juan Diego, a shelter for Central American immigrants. It is more like an oasis for people who have lost almost everything, been abused or have survived the journey crossing the US- Mexican border.

I had the privilege of working with these incredibly strong women, helping them re-start their lives from the monumental changes they had made. I sat with them in the ER, held their newborn babies and tried to comfort them when they cried. Those 14 months left me with and unforgettable memories and a strong desire study public health with an focus on immigrants in the US.

Undergraduate / "Working in The Garden" -- Georgetown University significant activity essay [NEW]

Bending low over the garden bed, I grasped at a small dandelion that was trying to hide among the bean plants. Suddenly there was a rustling and a small field mouse scurried out. I squinted my eyes as it darted down the narrow path that divided the rows. My gaze returned to the leafy plants, waiting patiently for my attention again. I knelt again and yanked the weed out.

This was where I spent consistently spent the three of the summers while I was is high school, at an organic garden that was three lush acres of vegetables and rich brown soil, it was located on a hill top in the Appalachian Mountains of western Pennsylvania. I

The idea for it's creation for the local community of Spring Valley came from a brain-child of a handful passionate small-time farmers as an experiment to see if a 'naturally

grown' vegetable garden could really produce more than one using pesticides and fertilizers as well as well as all the health benefits of eating the organic food. The Garden was neatly organized into six foot wide 'beds' with three rows each, each running the length of the field. Of course I have to mention the greenhouse where we- my siblings, friends and I who made up our ambitious crew planted the seeds in soil blocks and coaxed seedlings out of them and then transferred the small plants to the garden beds outside for the rain and sun to work their magic. We then watered, weeded and finally at the end of summer, harvested all the produce.

Working in the Garden taught me how hard work really does play off and the satisfaction of being able to see the reward, but it was much more then that. It was a hands-on lesson in ecology and biology; how alternating the types of vegetables grown in each bed every year by using the "9 year crop rotation" can help the soil keep its healthy balance, for example, corn saps the soil of it's nutrients and planting potatoes the next year will replenish. Certain plants such as marigolds and natural bug repeller and ground jalapenos can deter slugs from eating leaves. My involvement in the Garden was an unforgettable experience and has me forever interested with the natural sciences and how the environment natural and man-made has a direct impact on the health of all who live on this plant, and I hope to obtain that knowledge through a degree in International Health from Georgetown University's School of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Undergraduate / "My Grandfather, focusing on health of others" - Common App Essay- Influencial Person [4]

**Any input on the ending would be appreciated!!**

We walked along the narrow trail, just my Grandpa and I, the long green grass rustling at our feet and the trees bending over, shading the bright June sun. This was our favorite place, in the hollows of the Appalachian Mountains. He pointed to a small insignificant seeming flower at the edge of the path. "Lady's Slippers" he said in his deep, shaky voice. I was amazed that all though he was 87 years old, his eyesight was so sharp. We continued along, searching for more hidden plant life.

As far back as I can remember, my grandfather, Arthur was a very important part of my family. Born in England in 1914, his soldier father was killed in France during the First World War just months before the treaty was made. This affected him very much and growing up in post-war England, he was always committed to non-violence. Grandpa trained as a pharmacist and joined the Peace Pledge Union but when the Second World War was declared much to his disappointment most of his friends who were involved in the PPU joined the military but Grandpa did not want to participate in the war, so he left England in 1943 on a ship bound for Paraguay, through submarine infested waters to work at a hospital in the jungle that served the indigenous Guaraní Indians. Besides making the medicines, he would spend time in the jungle studying the flora. My grandfather would send samples of flowers he found to Kew Gardens in London and the New York Botanical Gardens. He met and married my grandmother, who was a midwife at the same hospital and twenty years later, they returned to England, and much later, moved to the states.

These experiences of living in a South America obviously made a big impact
on him. He had since passed away but I learned from Grandpa some very important lessons of life. "Live simply so that others can simply live", a famous quote from Mother Theresa that best describes him. Grandpa always had great compassion for the poor and made sure that I never forgot how lucky we were to have the food and clothes we needed and that we had and obligation to use our abilities to help people much less fortunate then myself. From his love of plants had grown concern for the environment and that caring for the environment and everyone around us were one in the same. He taught me to respect the plants growing in the forest, that even the smallest human action, like walking through the woods, can have a huge effect on the ecosystem. Now I can't walk through the woods or past a flower with out thinking of him.

Grandpa is one of the inspirations of why I want to pursue a degree in public and international health. He constantly challenged my way of thinking "with the crowd" and act on what I felt was right, even if it was unpopular. I feel that focusing on the health of others is best way I can serve the world.