Undergraduate / MIT "language" challenge [3]

In 1999, I moved from China to the United States to live with my immediate family and naturally I was verbally restricted by the language change. I immediately began second grade with an arsenal of vocabulary consisting of five words: teacher, I, need, to, pee. I was completely lost in this new world where everything was so different compared to my home in China. There was only one solution to my problems and that was to find a friend that can help me translate. I found a girl who was kind enough to help me but as much as I wanted her to help, I did not want to burden her from her friends. In the end, I spent the entire semester playing alone during recess and occasionally getting into trouble for repeating some words I hear on the playground in class. In the summer of that year, I worked hard to learn English. I remember memorizing vocabulary and practicing phrases I heard on TV for three to four hours a day. I persevered through the tears of not being able to play outside because I had not memorized all the words for the day and as I was going back into school the next term, I was placed in the same grade. Additionally, each night I was required to read for an hour by my mom and with this, I began second grade again with an arsenal of words larger than any of my fellow second graders.

Undergraduate / Columbia supplement, "undecided but leaning towards biology" [4]

In the summer of 2010, I spent a month in the hospital caring for my sick grandfather, the man I am closest with even more than my dad. I spent more hours assisting him in the hospital than I did at my grandmother's condominium where I resided. At the hospital, I witnessed a lot of intricate examinations and procedures that the doctors performed on him. I became instantly fascinated by the activities that take places inside a hospital especially around the operating room. I was intrigued by the human body and the capabilities the body can withstand and endure. I watched as the doctors cut a path in my grandfather so that they can squeeze a chest tube into his lungs so that he can get postural draining for the mucus that was clogged inside him. I knew then that I wanted to study biology and medicine because at the hospital, the thought of watching a new procedure and acquiring new information about the human body selfishly overshadowed the thought of helping my grandfather get better. I am hooked by the challenge in the problem solving in medicine and I want to be able to explore deeper into this field. I now study AP Biology at school and it is one of my most devoted classes because the information and concepts taught draws a significant part of my academic interests. Therefore, through my experience inside the hospital and fascination with the human body, I see biology as a highly potential major for me.

Undergraduate / 'Grandpa matters' - Stanford What matters to you and why? [3]

There is one person in my life that I place in a pedestal higher than my father, mother, or anyone else; it is my grandfather. He is a man I am truly thankful for with no hesitation in proclaiming him as my hero and idol. My grandfather was a man who is wise and generous, who lived with integrity and honor, sincerity and kindness, and with righteousness and respect. Even though he raised me for only my first five years of my life, I have a bond with him that is stronger than with the people I have lived longer with. My bond with him will last as long as his name is tattooed on my wrist. He has taught me each summer I am with him that one must live wisely but not without mistakes, progressively but not without hindrance, and most importantly, respectfully but not without mistreatment. He has taught me to become a better person and it is my goal to become someone even half as great as he was. Furthermore, the day of his death, where I was at the airport returning to America, he taught me, not through his actions but through his inactions, about how thoughtful a person should be. That morning in his hospital bed he asked my aunt if I was leaving and she confirmed him. He told her that he was happy with who I have become and that he can now rest in peace but he also told her that he did not want me to know of his passing until I have landed so that I do not have a miserable trip back. I found out of his passing the day after my arrival and my aunt told me about what he said to her, which made me realize about the kind of care and thought one should have to benefit another. I have made it my standard that I am someone my grandfather would be proud of if he was still alive to see me; nothing matters to me more than being a person he would approve of because if I was to become anything less, I would have thrown away his faith in me.

Undergraduate / Intellectual Development Stanford Supplement, "Mom in the Hospital" [2]

Thank you for reading my response to "Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development."

Life had never been as scary as it was in January of 2009. My mom had a serious allergic reaction to a medication her doctor prescribed and she was hospitalized for three weeks. The doctors at first could not diagnose her condition; ultimately, an allergy specialist came and diagnosed her as having an allergic reaction to Penicillin. To be with her, I often went to the hospital after school and one thing I recall most clearly is hearing my dad discuss with my aunt how he was going to sue the doctor. My mom, however, told us that it is not worth it to sue the doctor because he had worked his whole life to earn his degree and over a simple mistake, she shouldn't take his career away, or ruin his reputation. The moment she said that to us I realized how crucial it is to pay attention to every little detail in life, such as how I do work in school, how I talk to others, and even how I handle myself in any given situation. This made me realize that proofreading my essays, thinking before speaking to others, and being apprehensive instead of impulsive in my daily decisions are all very important for my success in life. Through this experience in the hospital, I have learned to be more careful with my choices and that the decisions I make are to be made after thorough consideration of every little detail. From the reasoning my mom made on her hospital bed, I have found myself double checking my answers in school and improving my test grades because I have prevented myself from making unnecessary errors like the one my mother's doctor could have averted. This family emergency has taught me to be more focused on my work so that I do not falter in my values, like my grades, that I have been so determined to uphold.

Undergraduate / Columbia Supplement, "finding my passion" [4]

Thank you for reading my respond to the "Please tell us what you find most appealing about Columbia and why." It is a first draft and feel free to give as much advice as possible. Thank you once again.

There is a saying in my home that goes, "You think you are good enough? I don't." I hear this line from my father on a weekly basis and I find that the more I hear it, the more I question my capabilities and priorities. I have become increasingly lost in my passions and decreasingly motivated in specific subjects at school. Originally I had goals and aspirations for college. I wanted to be a surgeon; but from all the doubt my father has given me, I began to second guess my perception of academic passion. This all changed, however, when I read about "The Core" of Columbia because I saw new hope in finding my academic passion. I am extremely captivated by the opportunity to engage in such a wide range of intellectual discourse and I have been preoccupied by my imagination of these classes. I am ecstatic at the thought of participating in such diverse classes as the history of art and the formation of civilization. I am not sure where my true academic calling is, but I am sure that Columbia can provide me with the pathway through the Core Curriculum to find my ultimate major. Furthermore, even if my interests are not found within the Core Curriculum, Columbia's countless number of advance research groups and professors all can be my guide to a true passion. I am highly attracted to the diversity Columbia shares in, not only its environment, but in its courses that will surely gather the confusion I have in my aspirations and guide me into the profession matching my potentials.