Undergraduate / 'It's hot. My skin is melting.' WILLIAMS COLLEGE AND COLUMBIA U. - what meaningful to you [3]

WILLIAMS COLLEGE
Imagine looking through a window at any environment that is particularly significant to you. Reflect on the scene, paying close attention to the relation between what you are seeing and why it is meaningful to you. Please limit your statement to 300 words.*It's hot. My skin is melting. My tongue cries for water. My face yearns for a breeze. My muscles ache. I feel miserable, yet this is my motherland-El Salvador.

Zoom out: All I see are miles and miles of corn lulled to a placebo state by rhythmic hills. Under the unforgiving sun they dance to the song of the wind, as their roots stretch down burring into the soil of my ancestors.

Zoom In: Buses. Blue, green, yellow, red: the streets come alive with intoxicating colors as buses after buses filled to the brim with sweating people mill through villages. They are filled with laughter, shouts, cries, and silence. Upon each and every one of these buses are pictures of Jesus: El Salvador-"The Savior".

Zoom out: The separation between the sky and the sea seems to not exist. All is a brilliant blue: pure. There are no factories, no smug, no excess pollution caused by the industrialization of civilization. It's a marvel at the simplicity of lives here; it's beautiful.

Zoom In: My hands are rough. Alongside my father, mother, and grandparents, I have worked hard. These hands are a staple of Salvadorian strength. I accept my culture. It has been the foundation to my personality. Without it, as I look out at my father working in front of the house he built with his own hands, I realize I would not be me. I would not me an ambitious, strong willed, adventurous, creative, and open individual. My Salvadorian nationality supplements my American nationality as it keeps me grounded in the advancements of my future. My parents history in El Salvador prompted them to follow the American dream; it prompts me to fulfill their dream.

It's an uphill struggle-my muscles will ache-but I will succeed.

COLUMBIA U
For applicants to Columbia College, please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the field or fields of study that you noted in the Member Questions section. If you are currently undecided, please write about any field or fields in which you may have an interest at this time. (300 words or less)*

I'm 12. I'm alone. It's 6 pm. It's cold. And I'm alone.
I wait outside of Beech Springs Intermediate School for my mom to pick me up from Drama practice. Practice finished about an hour ago but my mom's late-she's always late.

Suddenly I see dim light round the corner: it's her. She's driving an old van, a 1994 Nissan Quest that would later be passed down to me. It has no heating. I climb into the back seat and wipe my hands on the seat.

My mom looks tired, so tired. As we approach the dark, narrow road that will take us home we see lights: blue, red, white, blue, red, white, blue red, white. My heart starts to beat rapidly, my palms get sweaty, I feel like throwing up; not again please not again. We stop as a police officer flags my mom down; she roles how her window and looks at him with tired eyes.

"License please."
I take off my seatbelt and lean over my mom and politely tell the police man that she doesn't have one. He tells me to sit down and asks my mom again:

"License. Now."
This has happened before; this exact scene. She struggles to say the words "I don't have one, sir" -the belittling begins.
I've seen it happen over and over-the discrimination and injustice that my parents face for the nature of their appearance, of their tongue, of their socioeconomic status.

Theater has become my outlet--my passion--therefore I elect to use it as a tool to fight. Theater allows ideas to impregnate the minds of complacent members of society by captivating and inciting their intellectual and emotional perceptions. It gives voice to a smorgasbord of political and social movements-voice to my mother and father

Undergraduate / COLUMBIA SUPP ESSAY. Hearts and Not Family [2]

It's a little late to be getting feed back BUT if you could look at it and tell me what you think you'd be a doll! Thanks!

Please tell us what you find most appealing about Columbia and why. (300 words or less)*
Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
My heart is racing. My palms are sweating. My eyes are blurry. I'm surrounded by nothing, but feel like everything is pressing me against a wall. What will happen if I fall? What if I cannot decide? Where do I go, what do I do? Wait! Am I still breathing? Yes I am, but what for? Why should I keep breathing if every breath I take involves inhaling negativity. I am surrounded by "advisors" who advice me to dream small when all I want to do is willingly risk my sanity and leap: leap into the unforgiving sky and land upon the highest cloud-Columbia University.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
In my drilling search for a school that will supply me with the challenges and opportunities I so desperately seek, Columbia has become the epitome. As the forefront of controversial protests stationed in the center of the art and political world, Columbia has established itself as a pioneer to each and every field I am infatuated with-primarily Political Science and Theater with a dash of History, a sprinkle of Literature, and a pinch of Psychology. Merely having the plausibility of casually strolling along "the Steps" and "accidentally" brushing my sweater sleeve against the sleeve of one who has won a Nobel Prize, an Academy Award, a billion dollars, even the presidency, overwhelms me to the extremities of the color blue.

Thump-thump.
I starve to become part the robust and avant garde performing arts arena. I starve to become part of politically, environmentally, and socially aware student body who are unafraid to fight for their beliefs. Overall, I starve to grow in the face of my adversities by taking hold of every opportunity, be it an unpaid internship, summer job, or labor intensive program.

I'm ready. Are you?

Briefly describe which single activity listed in the Activity section of your Common Application represents your most meaningful commitment and why. (150 words or less)*
"La Familia es todo"-family is everything.
It's a motto; a way of life in Hispanic culture.
Yet, nature of my family is pure bedlam. Their issues press me down, down, down into a salty depression as my stress, being the figurehead for parents who barely know how to defend themselves against a foreign world, grows every day.

Therefore, my motto is: "Theater isn't everything-It's just a really big part of everything."
I am an actress.
I devote countless hours of my time, energy, and mind power to bring life to a character all for a mere moment on stage.
Imagine stepping onto a black stage. Suddenly lights flood your vision-GO! As you are living your character, feeling every word through your heart, you can feel the audience inch closer and closer to the edge of their seat.

Black.
It all just lasts for a moment.
I live for that moment

Undergraduate / The true beauty of Northwestern ; Northwestern Supp;A TOOL FOR CHANGE [3]

Northwestern Statement: What are the unique qualities of Northwestern - and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying - that make you want to attend the University? In what ways do you hope to take advantage of the qualities you have identified? (250 words)

All critic is welcome and appreciated and urged!!!

Theater allows ideas to impregnate the minds of complacent members of society by captivating and inciting their intellectual and emotional perceptions. It gives voice to a smorgasbord of political and social movements either in the most obvious of ways- Guerilla Theater-or subliminally through farcical delights-Improv. Yet, to have such power, the root must thrive in an environment that encourages change, intelligence, controversy, opportunities and the art itself to grow-Northwestern University.

The true beauty of Northwestern is not due to its breath taking lakeside view, lushes grounds, grandeur castle-like buildings but what lies behind its sensual ivy covered doors: academic prosperity. Although primarily an actor, I am yearn to dive into the world of tech, directing, play writing, and managing within the School of Communications-no matter the difficulty. By taking full advantage of the program, I will become a valuable company member within Northwestern and the internship opportunities offered at Steppenwolf Theater, Second Stage Theater, and Lookingglass Theater.

My passion for Northwestern does not stem from the common want that many have: to go far from home. I love my home, my family, my friends. Yet, I am more than willing to relocate 800 miles away from home to begin a life of my own and escape the cold grip of poverty and cultural complacency. Northwestern is the environment that will further my dream of conducting Theater and Political/Social Science to expose society to the ongoing complacency to injustices. Ambition throbs throughout Northwestern-throughout my veins.