I'd like to think that I have a very distinctive background. My parents and their families come from two completely different worlds. My father is a Jewish Israeli born immigrant with little education. Most of his family members are still in Israel and only speak Hebrew. My mother is a sixth generation, Irish, Hispanic Catholic with a Master's degree. Her family is entirely based in New York. They have both worked very hard to ensure that I can have the best education available to me. I have always thus felt that it was my duty to try my hardest to find a university that I fit into academically and socially. When I first looked for colleges to apply to, I looked for three distinct qualities, academic opportunities, diverse and engaging student body, and burgeoning activities and organizations to further personal growth. When I decided to attend Villanova University, I felt that it had all of these qualities. I arrived eager to completely immerse myself in the college life. I soon realized that rather than having the new and exciting experiences of a college life. I found that Villanova was much the same as my high school experience. The Augustinian mantra of learning in the mold of St. Augustine's teaching had to all too familiar taste of my Jesuit high school. Everyone I met seemed to have the same identity: white, upper middle class, Catholic, and from the Northeast. Having a uniform campus feel can be a positive perspective because in a sense it can promote social unity, but in Villanova's case I find it rather disenchanting because it mirrored my high school graduating class.
A major dynamic of my life has been to have new experiences and discover new things. I went to high school in Manhattan to see the fun and exciting opportunities it presented and I have travelled extensively through Europe and Asia eager to experience cultures different from my own. I realized at an early age, because of my intercultural, interfaith background, that not everyone in the world is like me and this idea has inspired me to have such cultural encounters. For me, a major part of the "college experience" is to leave one's comfort zone of friends, home, and family and make something of oneself in a new setting. Although I feel that Villanova is an admirable institution with much to offer, it lacks the major diverse component I have been looking for and hope to find at a new school.
A major dynamic of my life has been to have new experiences and discover new things. I went to high school in Manhattan to see the fun and exciting opportunities it presented and I have travelled extensively through Europe and Asia eager to experience cultures different from my own. I realized at an early age, because of my intercultural, interfaith background, that not everyone in the world is like me and this idea has inspired me to have such cultural encounters. For me, a major part of the "college experience" is to leave one's comfort zone of friends, home, and family and make something of oneself in a new setting. Although I feel that Villanova is an admirable institution with much to offer, it lacks the major diverse component I have been looking for and hope to find at a new school.