Why Yale?
I want to change the world. My natural skills lend themselves to politics. But if I want to lead as the politician of tomorrow I will have to deal with crazy computers, gargantuan global warming and a perilously populous planet. At Yale, I can take courses designed to be interdisciplinary at the Jackson Institute. A kid who learns best from discussion, I can't wait to be on a first name basis with experienced Senior Fellows. Throw in the oldest college humor paper in the country and five comedy troupes dedicated to extemporaneous humor and... we're here. Please, be gentle.
A) You have been granted a free weekend next month. How will you spend it?
Robert Frost. Frosty walks. Pulp Fiction. Hip-hop. Classic rock. Elvis dancing: hips hop.
I cook. Friends eat. I sing. Friends complain. I sing.
B) What is something about which you have changed your mind in the last three years?
The sign of good art is not how much attention it receives, but how much thought it inspires from its audience.
B) What is the best piece of advice you have received while in high school?
Speak loud. Listen close.
D) What do you wish you were better at being or doing?
Though I rarely get nervous even on stage or in front of large crowds, I've never built up the courage to ask a girl out.
E) What is a learning experience, in or out of the classroom, that has had a significant impact on you?
I've learned from tutoring kids who'd rather be doing anything else that if you can get a kid laughing, you can get him learning.
Tell us something about yourself.
"What's up?" I asked Kassidy after introducing myself. "Mind if I call you Butch?"
I was at Camp Becket. Kassidy was one of eight campers in the cabin I would be spending my summer with as a counselor-in-training.
My sad little film reference was a poor excuse for a joke, but I expected at least a few giggles. Instead I got sidesplitting laughter that even proved contagious. "So you liked the movie?", I asked through my chuckles.
Kassidy was still laughing. "What movie?"
As the summer went on I found myself spending more and more time with my cabin, Kassidy in particular. He turned out to be somewhat of a problem child. He was a nice kid with a big heart, but he had no attention span whatsoever, often making it difficult for me or the counselors to organize the cabin and difficult for him to organize his life. One of my own goals for my summer had been to have a lasting and meaningful impact on a camper's life. In a couple of years, I wanted someone to be able to say "I'm better because of Eric".
Near the end of the summer I found Kassidy running through the library by the pond. I asked him if he would "sit with me. The sky is beautiful today. Let's look at some clouds."
"Why?" He asked. "I can do that whenever."
"But how often can you look at clouds competitively?" Along with my biggest smile, I put as much mystery and excitement into the word as I could.
Reluctantly, "Okay... I guess for a minute."
So we competitively cloud gazed. It was remarkably similar to regular cloud gazing, with the notable exception that it featured Kassidy sitting still for an hour.
By the end of the summer I had helped Kassidy have a great time while also working through his attention problem. In one of the most rewarding moments of my life, he told me that I was the highlight of his session.
But I feel like I could have done more. I was playing the role of a doctor, treating individual campers with creativity, when I wanted to be the pharmaceutical company that made the medicine in the first place. I want to change the world, to redraw the big picture. Becket showed me the reward of helping a good friend, now it's on to cure societal woes.
I want to change the world. My natural skills lend themselves to politics. But if I want to lead as the politician of tomorrow I will have to deal with crazy computers, gargantuan global warming and a perilously populous planet. At Yale, I can take courses designed to be interdisciplinary at the Jackson Institute. A kid who learns best from discussion, I can't wait to be on a first name basis with experienced Senior Fellows. Throw in the oldest college humor paper in the country and five comedy troupes dedicated to extemporaneous humor and... we're here. Please, be gentle.
A) You have been granted a free weekend next month. How will you spend it?
Robert Frost. Frosty walks. Pulp Fiction. Hip-hop. Classic rock. Elvis dancing: hips hop.
I cook. Friends eat. I sing. Friends complain. I sing.
B) What is something about which you have changed your mind in the last three years?
The sign of good art is not how much attention it receives, but how much thought it inspires from its audience.
B) What is the best piece of advice you have received while in high school?
Speak loud. Listen close.
D) What do you wish you were better at being or doing?
Though I rarely get nervous even on stage or in front of large crowds, I've never built up the courage to ask a girl out.
E) What is a learning experience, in or out of the classroom, that has had a significant impact on you?
I've learned from tutoring kids who'd rather be doing anything else that if you can get a kid laughing, you can get him learning.
Tell us something about yourself.
"What's up?" I asked Kassidy after introducing myself. "Mind if I call you Butch?"
I was at Camp Becket. Kassidy was one of eight campers in the cabin I would be spending my summer with as a counselor-in-training.
My sad little film reference was a poor excuse for a joke, but I expected at least a few giggles. Instead I got sidesplitting laughter that even proved contagious. "So you liked the movie?", I asked through my chuckles.
Kassidy was still laughing. "What movie?"
As the summer went on I found myself spending more and more time with my cabin, Kassidy in particular. He turned out to be somewhat of a problem child. He was a nice kid with a big heart, but he had no attention span whatsoever, often making it difficult for me or the counselors to organize the cabin and difficult for him to organize his life. One of my own goals for my summer had been to have a lasting and meaningful impact on a camper's life. In a couple of years, I wanted someone to be able to say "I'm better because of Eric".
Near the end of the summer I found Kassidy running through the library by the pond. I asked him if he would "sit with me. The sky is beautiful today. Let's look at some clouds."
"Why?" He asked. "I can do that whenever."
"But how often can you look at clouds competitively?" Along with my biggest smile, I put as much mystery and excitement into the word as I could.
Reluctantly, "Okay... I guess for a minute."
So we competitively cloud gazed. It was remarkably similar to regular cloud gazing, with the notable exception that it featured Kassidy sitting still for an hour.
By the end of the summer I had helped Kassidy have a great time while also working through his attention problem. In one of the most rewarding moments of my life, he told me that I was the highlight of his session.
But I feel like I could have done more. I was playing the role of a doctor, treating individual campers with creativity, when I wanted to be the pharmaceutical company that made the medicine in the first place. I want to change the world, to redraw the big picture. Becket showed me the reward of helping a good friend, now it's on to cure societal woes.