Undergraduate / Tufts Supplement- Why Tufts, Let your life speak, what makes you happy? [NEW]

ANY SUGGESTIONS AND CRITIQUES WILL BE TAKEN! THANK YOU SO MUCH

Why Tufts?

Tufts was my first college tour and the cooperative and spirited community that surrounded the outskirts of Boston mesmerized me. The student involvement revealed to me how perfect this school is for me. I want to make a change by taking part in the Action for Sexual Assault Prevention organization, Model UN and Tufts Idea Exchange to promote tolerance and innovate thinking. With all the opportunities and supportive faculty member surrounding campus, I have the ability to revolutionize my intellectual and constructive journey as I enter the Jumbo world.

There is a Quaker saying: "Let your life speak." Describe the environment in which you were raised-your family, home, neighborhood or community-and how it influenced the person you are today. (Required length is 200-250 words)

plagiarized - removed
Think outside the box: take a risk and go somewhere unexpected. Be serious if the moment calls for it but feel comfortable being playful if that suits you, too. (Your response must be between 200 - 250 words.) What makes you happy?

Happiness is a spectrum of emotions that goes from an unstoppable laugh to the butterflies in your stomach. What makes me happy is:
1. The smell of my mom baking my favorite desert and then dipping my finger in the mix.
2. A new customer at Bianco Gelato falling in love with my favorite flavor hazelnut.
3. The orphans in Haiti holding my hand and calling me "Kala"
4. My brother and sister telling me they miss me from California.
5. Going to the movies in my pajamas with my best friend
6. Dinner with my family as we debate over who is more ridiculous Donald Trump or his wife for marrying him.
7. Reading over Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting for Godot" as my mind goes through an existential crisis.
8. Watching one of my students in volleyball get their first serve over.
9. My bulldog snoring so loud it sounds like he's announcing the Apocalypse
10. My grandpa describing me his childhood and life during the Franco regime.
11. Traveling to a new country with no plans to go by.
12. Singing to the top of my lungs in the shower to the soundtrack of Grease
13. My boyfriend sleeping on top of my chest.
14. Enjoying the simplest of things with my loved ones
15. For people to love one another for who they are and to end discrimination.

And for all unfortunate kids to have an opportunity to be loved and live their dream just like I am.

Undergraduate / Brown Supplement- Why brown, Living Place, Community, and Area of Interest (Undergraduate) [2]

Any advice would be great! Thank you!

Why are you drawn to the area(s) of study you indicated earlier in this application?

I was born into a very diverse household. I have a German French mother who was raised in Spain and a Dominican father who was raised in NYC. Fortunately, I had the chance to travel and visit different countries including France, Spain, Greece, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Morocco. Through these trips, I realized my passion to immerse myself within different areas of the world. International relations doesn't just involve policy though, it involves, culture, economy, philosophy, history, geography, and psychology. I get to study all these subjects and see how it all comes into one. We have hundreds of global issues, yet the effect always varies. I enjoy seeing different perspectives and compromising for it to benefit both sides. I want to be the mediator. My goal is to solve the complex social and international phenomena, whether it have to do with global warming, poverty, or religion.

Why Brown?

I want to graduate from college with a dynamic education. I want to study philosophy and politics, yet I would love to discover the laws of physics that run our universe and what neurology says about our brain. I believe through Brown's faculty and innovative students Brown will fulfill that. It will deepen my ability to source connections over varied content, and revolutionize my intellectual journey. I thoroughly believe that Brown's strong culture of individual curriculum and lifelong-education, in coalition with my academic approach and character is the quintessential choice, strengthening the college's diversity of freethinking students.

Tell us where you have lived - and for how long - since you were born; whether you've always lived in the same place, or perhaps in a variety of places. (100 word limit)

I was born in New York City, but I moved when I was three. Since 2001 I have lived in Miami in six different homes. Miami has proven itself to be a progressive diverse city, and that is how I see myself. I am constantly growing new buildings of knowledge and growth as I tear down the old shattered ones. My home has given me a chance to live within a Latino and European community, but it has also shown me that I want to go beyond the Sunshine State and experience a seasonal change within.

We all exist within communities or groups of various sizes, origins, and purposes; pick one and tell us why it is important to you, and how it has shaped you. (100 word limit)

We call ourselves the Machukas. We consist of 10 wild teenage kids who met in Haiti and are trying to find how we fit in this Earth. Machuka means lonely and single in Creole. Ironic enough, we are anything but lonely. They have taught me to disconnect myself from stressful worries and free my mind to focus on living in the present. Through our wild adventures in a paddleboard, they have taught me to question concepts such as whether homosexuality is innate or a choice. Through each of our unique personalities, we provide a balance, which I find exquisite. The Machukas have shown me the door to improvement and to constantly push myself no matter how big the obstacle is.

Undergraduate / The Cross Eyed Look - 'the true value of appreciation' (commonapp on background, identity, talent..) [2]

If anyone can give me advice on what I should add to the essay maybe, if my transition and message is clear, and any other critiques to hear from please!

Saliva runs down her chin. She cannot speak, but she can feel. I feel her heart palpitation from under my hand. Her heart is racing, pumping to live. Those feeble arms droop to the floor like a deflated balloon longing for air. She clenches. I whisper to her, "It's okay, Genise, I am here." I sing her a lullaby hoping she might understand, yet even I do not understand.

My hands rub her chest. I feel every ligament, muscle, and bone. This little creature was malnourished. As I stretch and massage every part of her body, her story is deciphered. She has been abandoned. That stomach is bloated with questions; however, it is never filled with answers, but she looks up. Her big brown eyes, cross-eyed, look at me. They whisper to me, "It's okay, I am still here."

The world falls away. It is just the orphan and me. The painted trees and ladybugs from the wall fade into a haze of colors. Her stained pink flower dress illuminates the scene. The presence of the nurses and volunteers becomes an endless motion that ceases time.

She gasps. A pain had erupted from every part of her body as if wrapped in a blanket of nails. The excruciating torment of forcing a leg to bend and straighten was the only thing she could express, but she was determined to walk. The dream of setting foot on that Haitian soil; it would nourish her vibrant soul with victory; so, I continued to push her body. She squeezes her fists in hope of relieving the agony. I cannot help but look away as I beg for it to end. I concentrate on the pool of slobber. The transparent fluid evaporates from her dress of dreams to the heat of the wind.

I look up at her, and that is when I understood. She smiled at me and giggled. I kept singing the lullaby hoping to keep that smile. A single tear slid down from my warm, unblinking eyes, followed by another one and another one; until, soon a steadily stream of salty tears flowed down my pale cheeks. The world around became a blur of color that melts to gray. I was slowly releasing my emotion within my silent tears, dissolving into this girl's glance. A bittersweet emotion dove into my body, and I swirled through its current.

She taught me the greatest lesson in life, one that no common man can ever foresee: the true value of appreciation. Every problem I could think of was turned into a pebble. Every achievement was turned into a triumph. Her pure innocence led me to sanity; it flowed through every vein of my body.

The Haitian music began to buzz back in my ear. I picked her up ever so gently, cradled her neck like a newborn, and placed her on the wheelchair. I watched those lucid eyes fall into a maze of fantasies. I walked out quietly outside, lost in my feelings. I wanted to stay in the orphanage. In this so called home, every moment mattered. Each giggle bloomed a flower, and each sob lit the night. It was my paradise. The gift to love and care surrounded this orphanage.

I watched the disabled children observe the other kids. Their look was one of admiration. They each appreciated one another. The other kids came up to the disabled and made them laugh. I couldn't believe it.

Then, a nurse brought her out of the physical therapy room in her wheelchair so she can be with the other kids playing . I had to stay strong. So, I walked up to the little girl, took her out of the wheelchair, and carried her in my arms. I told her to trust me. She gave me a big smile. She looked at me and every word in my vocabulary melted out of existence.