Undergraduate / Marching band; BC Extra curicular activity [NEW]

During my years in high school, I have participated in many extracurricular activities. My favorite one has been the Marching band. It takes up about twelve hours a week with all the practices, games and the shows that we compete in. We played at Dolphin stadium in Miami and the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, as well as many holiday parades. As a freshman I started as a bass drummer. In my sophomore year I challenged a snare drummer and took his place on the drumline. In my junior year, I tried out for, and was selected to be the Captain of the drumline. I was chosen for my superior abilities and leadership skills. Since I have been the Captain, the drumline has improved immensely and all of its members like and respect me as their leader. This has been a very challenging, but rewarding experience.

Undergraduate / 'New York City's China Town' - Vires, Aates, Mores essay... [3]

The Latin word "Vires", or strength of all kinds is not something that can be taught in the classroom. Strength, both morally and physically, is something that is learned through experience. Intelligence can be defined as the "capacity for learning reasoning and understanding" which is precisely why I believe that my ability to make sound decisions based on my own experiences and reasoning makes me intelligent and strong as well. There is an intelligence or instinct that comes with my life's experience that brings me intellectual and moral strengths. My personal experiences in my life include extensive travels to foreign countries and throughout the United States. These travels have helped build my strength morally, physically and intellectually.

I have been to island paradises where the natives live in shocking contrast to our hotel rooms. Once I was in Jamaica having dinner at a very exclusive restaurant on top of a mountain. When I was finished my brother and I decided to walk around. We walked to the rear of the restaurant and looked over the hill and saw something that I will never forget. It was acres of cardboard shacks. An employee of the restaurant told us that this was Cardboard City, and that these were actually the homes of many Jamaicans. I felt very humbled and fortunate to know I had not a worry in the world compared to them. I learned that I cannot take the little things in life for granted.

Once I was in New York City's China Town we were walking in the crowded streets when I saw a thief in broad daylight try to steal a woman's wallet right out of her purse. My father saw also and told the woman to watch her purse. As the pickpocket walked away, he threatened to kill us if we told the policeman standing on the next block. I was also in New York during the blackout of 2003. There was so much chaos that when we rented a rental and tried to get to Boston no gas stations were open. We were driving on empty, when we found a long line at one station that was open. We had to wait in line for hours. We ran out of gas in line, but everyone in line knew how we were feeling and gathered to help. Strangers helped us push our car as we moved slowly through the line. When we told the attendant we were trying to get to Boston, he let us go over the ten gallon limit he had set. You just never know who or what you may encounter when traveling and it's always good when one can find selfless people willing to help others in need.

These experiences and my other adventures traveling abroad have taught me things that can't be learned in the classroom. I am intellectually and morally stronger as a person and am ready to take on all of the challenges that are ahead of me at Florida State University."

Undergraduate / Boston College Essay - discussing concerns [NEW]

2 Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you

Over the past two months I have written many essays. Some of them were for colleges and some of them were for scholarships; but my essay for Boston College has been in the works since I visited during the summer of 2007. That is when I had my first visit to Boston College. Even though I was born and raised in South Florida, Boston feels like home every time I visit. I still have many relatives in Massachusetts and we have visited every year since I was a little kid. My father is Jewish and was born in Beth Israel Hospital. He lived in Brookline and grew up near Coolidge Corner before he moved to Florida. My mother is a native Floridian and had a very Catholic upbringing.

Coming from an interreligious family has exposed my brother and I to both religions' beliefs and Holidays. A few times each year we went to Synagogue, we celebrated Passover and Yum Kippur with my Father's family. I even know some of the Hebrew prayers. Other times we attended church and celebrated Christmas and Easter. We often had deep discussions about both religions, but my parents left the decision of what to believe open to us. When I was young I was offered the chance to attend Hebrew School and have a Bar-Mitzvah or attend CCD classes, but did not really see any need. When my brother, Spencer, was eight or nine years old he decided to follow in the Jewish faith and attend classes at the local Temple. He was a Bar Mitzvah last year and we had a great party. I was happy for him, that he had found a place where he thought he fit. Me on the other hand, I could not decide and did not think it was that important.

I attended public schools up until middle school. When I was in eighth grade a Dean from the public High School I would be attending came and spoke to our class. The only things he talked about were how only one out of three of us would graduate, and that discipline was more important than learning. It was not what I was expecting when I was looking forward to high school. That is when I started looking for other alternatives such as Magnet Programs and Private Schools. A good friend told me about St Thomas Aquinas High School. It was not to far away and my parents said if I did well on the entrance exam and was accepted I could go. I was accepted and have been enjoying my high school experience ever since.

For the last three and a half years I have been getting an incredible education, I have made some really great friends and been inspired by many great teachers. One of my theology teachers, Dr. McDonald, told me to keep questioning and striving and that one day I would figure out my place and where I fit. When I was on my visit to Boston College and I stood in one of the old buildings with all the culture and knowledge that had been built into them, I knew I wanted to attend here. I wanted to sit in that old library and read some of those books, and discover more about what I had been given a glimpse of.

I had been to five different college tours; I had received hundreds of college applications and letters, when I thought about college I got dizzy. But standing in that hall on that day in June every thing seemed to slow down. It was a feeling in my heart unexplainable but undeniable too. I believe it was a sign of where I may fit and that it was important to study what I believe. I would love the chance to learn from the Jesuit's at Boston College. I have a strong and diverse background in religion and would bring with me the ideals and questions I have from both of my religious upbringings.

Undergraduate / "Youth Leadership Program and more" - UF admission Essay. [NEW]

I need some help with this Essay.

Describe a meaningful event, experience or accomplishment in your life and how it will affect your college experience or your contribution to the UF campus community. You may want to reflect on your family, your school or community activities, or your involvement in areas outside of school.

Over the past two and a half months I have written many essays. Some of them were for colleges and some of them were for scholarships; each was on a different topic. This essay, however, will be on what I think has been the greatest experience of my life and has prepared me for college the most.

For the past 6 years I have participated in a Youth Leadership Program that involves teaching and umpiring kids for baseball. Throughout the years, I have witnessed the ups and downs of this program and of the people involved. I have learned that parents and coaches can get extremely involved in the game and can get carried away in a negative way. They can get out of control and start screaming at the kids, which is where I come in and try to diffuse the situation. Most of the time I can successfully calm the individual down, but occasionally, I will have to throw a parent or coach out of the game, which makes the children feel terrible.

Opposed to these negatives are the positive side of things; the looks on the kids' faces when they make a good throw to get someone out or if they get a good hit. Many times after a kid makes an error or wrong play I will stop the game and explain to the kids what were wrong and try to teach them the right way to play. I also teach them about good sportsmanship, which I think is very important in this day and age of rich and self absorbed athletes. The kids have grown to like and respect me since I have advanced throughout the years, growing up with them. I am there to stick up for the kids and to be their leader on the field and off. Sometimes I will see one of the kids at the mall and they will stop to talk and introduce me to their parents. I know the kids look up to me so I always try my best to set a good example and to live up to their expectations.

This experience has taught me how to be a good communicator and has given me extra confidence when I am dealing with teachers and other adults. It has also taught me to look at things objectively and to keep a cool head under pressure. I am ready to take on all of the challenges ahead of me at the University of Florida.