Prompt: The quality of Rice's academic life and the Residential College System are heavily influenced by the unique life experiences and cultural traditions each student brings. What perspective do you feel that you will contribute to life at Rice? (Most applicants are able to respond successfully in two to three double-spaced pages.)
My morning schedule consists of waking up, eating some idli and sambar, and then praying to Lord Ganesh. Then, I make my trip to school where I say the Pledge of Allegiance and eat some cheese pizza and corn for lunch. At the end of the day I come home, relax with my family while enjoying some gulab jamun and maybe even watch a Bollywood Film.
As a child of two Indian parents, I have had a very different perspective on life than that of the average Caucasian. Since I was born and raised in America, I have been a hybrid of the Western and Eastern cultures. The differences in religion and other customs between my parents and my friends have given me a very open view of the world, which will allow me to adapt to and enrich Rice's environment easily. I will bring my unique Indian perspective to Rice and contribute to programs like the Indian Students at Rice. Because India is a very diverse country itself with many different foods, religions and languages, I will be able to bring the localized attributes of Chennai, India (where my parents are from) to the table. These include different foods such as idli or dosa, rather than the stereotypical rice and curry that are available in the more populous North India.
In addition to my heritage, my community service involvement during high school has given me a unique outlook and a drive to continue to do service throughout college. I have volunteered at both Lakeside Hospital and Rose Blumkin Nursing Home, where I have gained knowledge that can't be taught. When conversing with a person in the Hospice who is going to die within the next few months, or merely pushing someone in a wheel chair as they smile back at me, I learned how much they appreciate my help and how easy it is to give help. These opportunities have given me a unique perspective on the value of human life and have in turn, given me the drive to help these people not only in high school, but for life. At Rice, I will be able to enlighten the community with my service in many fields and with my perspective regarding the value of human life.
Throughout high school, I have been elected for many leadership positions. These include being Lakeside Hospital Teen Leader, Chemistry Club Committee Head, a member of the University of Nebraska Medical Center Student Advisory Group (UNMC SAG), and more. Through these leadership positions, and through the International Baccalaureate program, I have come across numerous types of people in regards to culture and ethnicity. I have even been to many different countries to explore their culture as well, including Singapore and Jamaica. Due to my exposure, I have experienced many culturally different scenarios. For example, through UNMC SAG, I organized a bake sale fund raiser through an organization that sent money to Haiti to rebuild after the earthquake. We also got the opportunity to watch a Haitian dance show put on by the organization we were helping. The dance was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was so beautiful and exotic. As a student at Rice, I hope to add to the diversity by sharing more of my experiences with the community to enrich it as a whole and by participating and conducting fundraisers or other events in support of international occurrences.
Another product of my leadership positions is the synthesis of innate leadership qualities. I catch myself off guard sometimes when I end up being the leader of a group. For example, after talking to friends about starting an intramural basketball team, they all looked to me to get the forms signed and the money submitted. Even on the court, despite being the small forward, I call the pick-and-roll or the post up and the team follows. My increased organizational skills and innate qualities of a leader throughout high school will complement Rice's completely student run college system well.
My open-mindedness and curiosity are attributes that have precipitated from my unique bi-cultural upbringing, my volunteer service and my leadership positions. Through the Residential College System at Rice, I can showcase my curiosity and open-mindedness gained from my experiences and employ these attributes to create a unique, and energetic college experience for me, my fellow students and even faculty.
I liked the essay and I believe you answered the prompt well. You stated what you have to offer to college but for some reason I can say your extra curricular activites can speak for themselves but if its been a big influence keep it in. If anything expand or explain more about your culture and the life you come from it sounded really interesting, since your from India it would be very unique from many other applicants.
