MAYAN SOCIETY/ I WAS BORN IN CUBA; STANFORD - Intellectual Vitality/ Roommate

Essay # 1
Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. (250 word limit.)
I have always admired the Mesoamerican civilizations; however when I learned about the Mayans in my class of "Theory of Knowledge" my perspective changed, I realized the great impact of the discoveries of past civilizations in the formation of the world as it is today; the impact that we will have in the civilizations of the future.

The Mayans lived around the 2600 BC. They developed astronomy, a very accurate calendar and the hieroglyphic writing. Like the Egyptians, the Mayans towns were decorated with tall and beautiful pyramids; illustrating the architectural advancement of their civilization. From the political and social standpoint, the Maya civilization was ahead of its time, they developed a complex society, divided into classes and professions; centralized governments, ruled by a king and defined boundaries between territories, which functioned a lot like our democratic system today. They also made significant discoveries in science, including the use of the zero in mathematics. Their writing was the only in America capable of expressing all types of thoughts.One of the most known contributions of the Mayan society was its calendar,which is still used today to "predict the future".The Maya Civilization is a faithful proof of the great impact human discoveries can have in the future generations. The knowledge possessed by this civilization and is impact in the world is one of my sources of inspiration to excel in the future. Maybe my name will written someday in the forums of science. Who knows?

Essay #2
Dear Roommate:
I cant wait to meet you!.I loved the letter you sent me, now let me tell you a little about myself: I was born in Cuba and lived there until I was around fourteen, when I discovered that my mom and I were finally coming to the United States, although I was prepared to leave home, the experience is always shocking. After arriving to this country, I realized the infinite number of opportunities that I could have access to. I am a very determined person and I decided that if I had to leave home, I was going to make my life here meaningful. I knew that If I wanted a good future I needed to study, despite my broken English, I began taking the most challenging courses, and surprisingly I excelled in all of them, and by the eleventh grade I was one of the candidates in the IB program. My achievements at school made me resilient to the arduous time I was having at home. Without a college diploma , my mom could only find a minimum wage job, and watching her work so hard only for me breaks my heart each day.Now is a time where I see that my effort had flourished, I have accepted to Stanford! I hope that you like participating in community service as much as I do. I also enjoy taking photographs in black and white, I even took a course in high school!I am sure you'll be an excellent roommate!

Essay #3 ( am still working on it, any suggestion will be greatly appreciated)
I always think about our world. There are millions of planets and galaxies, why this one? Why is Earth the only planet known to sustain life?

Then I reflect about us, the people in this world. What has made us so special to live in the only planet that sustains life? Why have we , out of the millions of genetic combinations and possibilities, be chosen to populate this planet?

It must have been because our destinies. In my opinion we all have a destiny that sent us here. What matters to me the most is to achieve my destiny, to leave a footprint in this world.

The idea of finding my role in this planet hunts me and inspires me in a way nothing else does, because I know that if I don't fulfill my destiny, my existence would have been in vain.

Destiny goes beyond what's written for your our future, but rather will you make it happen? I think destiny encloses the most important things in our life, is because of it that we are here, that we move forwards.Destiny is us.

I expected the experience to be tough and shocking.


After arriving in this country, I began to realize the enormous opportunities that were available for me.


Now that you have already come to the US and don't go back :D .LOL ... I mean your previous sentence is about your arriving in the US and don't reverse the flow again.


... you can skip the previous sentence and continue with this one.

Thank you so much !! : )

Well.... I understand you are a newbie. There are few things you need to follow when you open fresh threads in this forum. Always have a meaningful topic in the subject field that can well describe your essay. This helps you get the attention of others and earn more comments. Also, it is better you limit one response (to a prompt) per one thread. That also helps you earn more comments and attention. In this case you should have had three threads for each prompt.


Well... you literary talk about your past and background, and mostly the serious stuff. :D The relationship you are going to build with the roommate is somewhat more personal. I wish you adopted a more informal approach in the roommate essay in presenting your character to him. :D