Undergraduate / Choosing intellectual engagement; Bowdoin supplement [7]

For an entire semester of my AP Psychology course, I have seen my teacher in person. I have never met my classmates. I have never held my textbook in my hands. However, despite all of these seemingly non-engaging aspects, I am more engaged in this class than I have ever been in a "real" course. How is this possible, one might ask. I have asked myself the same question many times throughout this course. I was weary, at first, of the thought of an online class. I would be attending a new "school" alongside my real school. I would have classes with people from all over the nation. I would have to contact my teacher solely through Skype or email. How could I possibly become intellectually engaged? However, from the moment I decided to push myself by signing up for this online course, I have found myself extremely engaged. This course has led me to change my idea of intellectual engagement. I was, figuratively, surrounded by students who truly wanted to learn about psychology. They were there by choice, not because they had to fill a slot in their course plan. It is one thing to be surrounded by people struggling to keep up with the workload that they have to maintain. It is a completely different feeling to be surrounded by people who want to be intellectually engaged. I have found that intellectual engagement must be fueled by interest and passion. At Bowdoin, not only are there a variety of opportunities to learn, but there is a desire amongst the students to take up these opportunities. This level of intellectual engagement is unparalleled by most colleges. I find myself, yet again, seeking the opportunity to learn beyond what is imaginable.

This is 290 words of the 250 word limit. I know the ending is bad and unfinished, any suggestions? Do I need to talk more about Bowdoin?

Undergraduate / Fascination with Eye Contact; Yale Supp/ learn more about you [6]

I will edit your essay if you look at mine!
Yale #2 prompt: Please reflect on something you would like us to know about you that we might not learn from the rest of your application (500 words)

For the first five years of my life, school picture day was always a big production. Every year, before I left for school on that fateful day, my mother would put me in my prettiest dress and adorn my hair with bows and barrettes. She would push me out of the car, always leaving me with the words "Look at the camera!" When it came time to wait in line, my teacher would stand near me, dropping hints that my mother had so obviously planted such as "You should see the photographer's face when she takes your picture, it super funny!" However, when I sat down on that stool, all requests to look at the camera went out of my mind. Looking back at my school pictures, I have no idea why I refused to look at the camera. Sure, I looked ridiculously adorable with a shy little smirk on my face and my eyes glued to the ceiling, the wall, the floor, anywhere but directly at the camera, but I still question why for five years I never had one normal school picture. Now, I grew up as a very shy child. I had decided early in my childhood that adults expected to be impressed by what I had to say. Talking to my parents' friends was a daunting task to me, the terribly meek and timid five year old. I suppose that it was this personality trait that repeated failed me when it came to school pictures. *However, having matured a great deal since my averted eye phase, I have come to realize the great importance of eye contact.* (This is just a sentence I came up with, not sure where to place it and/or if I want to keep it)

Growing up with this camera eye contact problem, when the topic of oculesics, the study of eye-related nonverbal communication, came up in my AP Psychology course I was particularly intrigued. How is it that humans are able to communicate without speaking a word?

This is all that I have come up with so far for my Yale 500 word supplement. I know that I can write more about eye contact, I was just wondering if I should bother. Is this a good/interesting topic?

• 
  Here's just 3 examples, haha!
  

Undergraduate / Life of Pi; Living colorfully; UVa supplement [3]

I really need some help with this one! I'm not sure where to go or how to spin this so it reveals something good about me! Here's the prompt

We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. What work of literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way? (250 words)

I first came across Life of Pi by Yann Martel the summer before my junior year. Luckily, my English teacher decided to change the syllabus and assign the novel that year. Having already read the book for pleasure, I was excited to gain a new perspective on the book and all that Yann Martel crafted.

I am a surprise ending kind of reader. If there is some sort of unexpected twist at the end, I am almost guaranteed to fall in love. In the case of the Life of Pi, even a self-proclaimed plot twist expert like myself could not have foreseen the ending of this novel. The majority of this novel was spent detailing the trials and tribulations of a boy separated from his family and stuck on a raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The ending was spent in an arguably similar, yet starkly different manner. Throughout the first part of the novel, the boy was stuck on the raft with an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and, most importantly, a ferocious Bengal tiger. However, after facing doubt from reporters that he could have survived 227 days on a raft with a carnivorous tiger, the second part of the story was about a boy who was stuck on the raft not with animals, but with humans. The reporters, along with the readers, were then faced with the challenge of which story they believed. After analyzing the novel from a purely literary perspective, it was clear to me that Yann Martel is really asking how readers would choose to live their lives. Accept what is believable and live a yeast-less existence, or choose to challenge your beliefs and live a colorful life. This work of literature has led me to challenge how I choose to believe things. Instead of leading a "yeast-less existence," I choose to live colorfully.

It's over the word limit by about 50 words!