Undergraduate / 'coming to a different country' - Rice University Suppliment-culture and unique experience [3]

Prompt:The quality of Rice's academic life and the Residential College System are heavily influenced by the unique life experiences and cultural traditions each student brings. What perspective do you feel that you will contribute to life at Rice? (Most applicants are able to respond successfully in two to three double-spaced pages.)

"Wow!" I stood and stared at the scene outside of the airport window. After 16 hours of flight, I finally landed my feet on the ground. I am here in the Norfolk International Airport, looking out from the window just like what I do at every airport, but what I felt inside of me has never been so excited before. "It is so pretty here, there are trees everywhere and roads are so clean!" looking as far as I could, I whispered. Then I looked on the window and I saw this five feet tall Chinese girl standing by herself, with a dark handbag and a luggage that is almost as tall as she is. I took a long breath in, "I'm in another country now, alone!" I was 16 years old, came to the United States by myself as an exchange student. There was no fair on my face, instead, on my face there was a confident and jubilant smile. "I'm ready for this new journey, I'm ready for speaking English everyday, studying in new school and making new friends." I thought.

To explore a different culture by living in that culture is a gift which the majority of the world will never have the opportunity to do. With my host family, I have accomplished many "first time experiences", such as first time eating in an United States restaurant, first time having Chicken and Dumpling, first time visiting Williamsburg, first time being in a Christian church, and first time having a real Christmas holiday. I'm thankful to have experienced a totally different culture however, I'm more grateful to have discovered the possibility to live in harmony with people from different culture background. And that possibility will come true with the methods of sharing commons and learning the good differences.

First time coming to a different country, I have to admit that there are many culture shocks. Growing up in a full-fledged Chinese culture, I learned the manner to be humble. When someone tells a compliment about you, you should give a modest reply. Sometimes, even a depreciated or negative reply shows a better manner. However, a totally different custom developed in American culture. When someone tells a compliment about you, it is never right to disagree a compliment. Having seen the differences between the pieces of two cultures, I was able to compare and choose the better way and continue it in the future.

"You will find out there's some American customs that you like a lot and some that you don't like, but that is ok, because you can bring home the ones you like, and just leave the ones you don't like in the United States." My host mother told at the beginning of my exchange year. At the end of the year, I did, "bring home the ones that I like and leave the rest in United States." I brought with me a belief of freedom and human rights, a belief that I can make a change to the world, a more playful heart, and a more passionate greeting---hugging. However, there are something that I kept as my own culture, respect and modest towards elders and teacher, necessary modest, key of golden mean and the concept of "face". With the understanding of both cultures, I'm able combine them in the best radio to benefit my life. Learning a different culture broadened my knowledge of ways that different people see and solve a same problem. I believe the more culture I learn, the more options I will have for solving future problems.

Some people have asked me how I can adjust to a totally different culture so quickly and smoothly. "having a respectful and understanding mind" I answered. I believe every culture is established basing on a particular life condition. "Just like growing crops" I explained, "rice grows the best in water-abundant area and potato grows the best in dry soil. Both rice and potato feed millions of people, how can you judge one is better than another?" Only if you have a understanding mind, all culture are beautiful. Then you will be able to quickly adjust to different culture while keeping your own unique culture background. I believe having this unique culture experience in another country, I'm ready for another culture journey in college.

Any comment will be helpful. I'm an international students and has only writen long Enligsh essay like this not for long, so if there's any grammatical errors please point them out.

Thank you and I will try my best to return everyone's favor!~
Thank you

Undergraduate / Philosophy, psychology / Music and education - Suppliment essay for Lehigh [3]

Please proofread these following short answers for Lehigh University and point out the grammatical errors, every comments will be helpful~ Thank you!!

1. If you founded your own college or university, what topic of study would you make mandatory for all students to study and why? What would be the values and priorities of your institution and why?

The topics of study that I would make mandatory would be philosophy and psychology. Those are two different but closely related subjects that can guide one's life by building a gateway to self-awareness and self-improvement. Studying philosophy helps to develop a student's knowledge of personal values, ethical standards, and critical thinking skills, which are essential to a person's level of maturity, and on a bigger scale, to a moral community. Studying psychology, students will achieve a more profound self-awareness. Especially with college freshmen, studying psychology will help them quickly adjust to problems and stresses from a new environment. Because both philosophy and psychology compliment each other, I propose both as mandatory topics of study for all students to study in my college.

Success doesn't have to be related to money, or fame. Because true success will befall those who properly understand personal values and perform responsibly to society and themselves, the values and priorities of my institution will be to educate students to become knowledgeable, self-disciplined, responsible and productive citizens.

2. What aspect of Lehigh most interests you? (150-250 words)

There are many aspects that make Lehigh University stand out on my college list. One of the most important aspects is the outstanding education that Lehigh University offers. As an undecided student, I am profoundly attracted by the balanced excellence across each of the four Lehigh colleges. Along with the outstanding education, Lehigh's small class sizes ensure an even higher quality education, where students can benefit from more attention and assistance from the professors. Besides the outstanding educational programs, Lehigh University College of Arts and Sciences provides many music programs, which will fulfill my musical educational interest. With the preeminent education and abundant music programs, Lehigh University will be an excellent school to assist me accomplishing my educational goal.

Undergraduate / Science in daily life / Study dedication - essay for Rice University [2]

I'm an international Students and has only been in United States for 1 and a half year. Rice University is my top college, but I'm not very confident about my writing. So please proofread these following short answers and tell me what you think. Every comment is going to be helpful! Thank you!!

With the understanding that the choice of academic school you indicated is not binding, explain why you are applying to that particular school of study. (2000 characters)

Even though I have an interest in many fields of study, which makes me an undecided applicant, I have a passion in engineering. Since my first time taking a science class, I have been falling in love with this subject. Differ from other subjects, science uses rigorous and exact experiments to discover the true formation of daily matters and the general principles that they obeys. It is the testability and practicality that attracts me into this subject. Realizing the close connection between science and our daily life, I developed an interest in applying math and science to solve practical problems. When I was taking Biology and Chemistry classes, I truly enjoyed putting my hands on a lab and coming up with conclusions by analyzing data that was carefully collected during the testing process. Also, I enjoyed working efficiently with team mates to complete the mission. This kind of teamwork exposes me to different perspectives and information that will broaden my knowledge. I wish to continue this educational experience in my college by pursuing engineering study.

What motivated you to apply to Rice University? Please be specific and limit your response to 200 words.

When I was doing researches on Rice University, the 17th university among national universities by U.S. News and World Report, I was amazed and deeply attracted by its educational opportunities and campus environment. Rice University has a focus on undergraduate study. As an undecided student, I was very pleased by the diversity of schools that Rice University offers. Also, Rice University has a small student body that creates an opportunity to receive help from professors in and outside of classes. This opportunity will deeply benefit my education quality. Besides the high educational quality, environment within campus and around campus is another . Rice University is possessed of an artistic and academic environment. Rice's campus has an artistic atmosphere because is located in the museum district of Houston. And its academic environment comes from students' dedication toward study.