Why are you drawn to the area(s) of study you indicated in our Member Section, earlier in this application? If you are "undecided" or not sure which Brown concentrations match your interests, consider describing more generally the academic topics or modes of thought that engage you currently. (150 word limit)
My mind is in limbo. I'm the proactive scientist - weaving my own logic from my IB biology textbook. Then I'm the passionate humanist - going on about the incidence of Leprosy on the children of Mumbai, although I can't quite get the particulars down. It's perhaps this that led me towards the happy accident of discovering the Brown concentration in Health and Human Biology. Instead of being just a talker, I want to be someone who can back up my knowledge with hard fact and statistics. I want to be someone who can take Biology beyond its conventional science textbook setting and place it somewhere people can appreciate some of its uses - to explain the impacts of diseases on different races or to explore how legislation can be used to modify healthcare policy for the poor. My questions are vast and varied, the answers obscure. But with a little logic and the ability to challenge my mind to think beyond "Chapter 6 - Cells", I'm certain that this course will stoke my intellectual curiosity and will provide me with an internationalized outlook towards the health field.
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. (150 word limit)
China.
I've never been there. Yet I know its expansive power. Its language. I'm able to converse far more fluently in Chinese than in Hindi, the language of my native India - my relatives still haven't given that a rest.
The Chinese speaking community is where I can be me. I've never really received a formal invitation - I've just strolled in casually. When I hear Chinese, I become an archaeologist, eager to excavate the cultural origins of the speakers - whether they come from xi an or hang zhou, whether they eat mooncakes, who their favorite Cantopop singer is. At times I feel reluctance rising through my chest. Do I really belong? With my lack of subtlety, my foreign accent.
But that's what being a part of this community is to me. It's about taking a proactive role, playing the devil's advocate, questioning yourself, growing as a member. You have to push forward - culture might come to you passively. But skill doesn't. That's what communities are for. You renew your membership. And you continue to thrive.
Why Brown? (200 word limit)
To me, Brown is a Ferrero Rocher - a gem with countless, nutty, chocolate layers just waiting to be explored, savored. Sinking my teeth into the crunchy, tough outer coating of the gem, the challenge of weathering out my first real winter in Providence comes to mind.
As I work my way through the coat and find my way into the comfortingly soft, biscuit shell, I feel closer to the Brown community - the warm, inviting Georgian architecture, the gender neutral housing, a realm away from conservative Singapore. I am at the silken chocolate sphere now. This melt-in-your-mouth feeling is as arousing as the discovery of Brown's open curriculum. Microbiology, molecular science, health policy - my eyes glass over as I scroll through the offerings.
But these are just layers. The build up to the tartan white, hazelnut core - the wholesome Brown undergraduate experience. It's at Brown where I feel I won't need to be pushed out of my comfort zone - I'll just naturally leap out. Hearing about the naked doughnut runs and nudity week activities relaxes me with the knowledge that I won't be scorned for tangling with the taboo. As does Brown's taekwondo kick-a-thon, which I'm eager to participate in.
My mind is in limbo. I'm the proactive scientist - weaving my own logic from my IB biology textbook. Then I'm the passionate humanist - going on about the incidence of Leprosy on the children of Mumbai, although I can't quite get the particulars down. It's perhaps this that led me towards the happy accident of discovering the Brown concentration in Health and Human Biology. Instead of being just a talker, I want to be someone who can back up my knowledge with hard fact and statistics. I want to be someone who can take Biology beyond its conventional science textbook setting and place it somewhere people can appreciate some of its uses - to explain the impacts of diseases on different races or to explore how legislation can be used to modify healthcare policy for the poor. My questions are vast and varied, the answers obscure. But with a little logic and the ability to challenge my mind to think beyond "Chapter 6 - Cells", I'm certain that this course will stoke my intellectual curiosity and will provide me with an internationalized outlook towards the health field.
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. (150 word limit)
China.
I've never been there. Yet I know its expansive power. Its language. I'm able to converse far more fluently in Chinese than in Hindi, the language of my native India - my relatives still haven't given that a rest.
The Chinese speaking community is where I can be me. I've never really received a formal invitation - I've just strolled in casually. When I hear Chinese, I become an archaeologist, eager to excavate the cultural origins of the speakers - whether they come from xi an or hang zhou, whether they eat mooncakes, who their favorite Cantopop singer is. At times I feel reluctance rising through my chest. Do I really belong? With my lack of subtlety, my foreign accent.
But that's what being a part of this community is to me. It's about taking a proactive role, playing the devil's advocate, questioning yourself, growing as a member. You have to push forward - culture might come to you passively. But skill doesn't. That's what communities are for. You renew your membership. And you continue to thrive.
Why Brown? (200 word limit)
To me, Brown is a Ferrero Rocher - a gem with countless, nutty, chocolate layers just waiting to be explored, savored. Sinking my teeth into the crunchy, tough outer coating of the gem, the challenge of weathering out my first real winter in Providence comes to mind.
As I work my way through the coat and find my way into the comfortingly soft, biscuit shell, I feel closer to the Brown community - the warm, inviting Georgian architecture, the gender neutral housing, a realm away from conservative Singapore. I am at the silken chocolate sphere now. This melt-in-your-mouth feeling is as arousing as the discovery of Brown's open curriculum. Microbiology, molecular science, health policy - my eyes glass over as I scroll through the offerings.
But these are just layers. The build up to the tartan white, hazelnut core - the wholesome Brown undergraduate experience. It's at Brown where I feel I won't need to be pushed out of my comfort zone - I'll just naturally leap out. Hearing about the naked doughnut runs and nudity week activities relaxes me with the knowledge that I won't be scorned for tangling with the taboo. As does Brown's taekwondo kick-a-thon, which I'm eager to participate in.
