Please edit them and constructive advices are strongly appreciated! Thanks in advanced.
Occidental College Supplementary
1. If you've had the opportunity to visit campus, please indicate when and in what capacity, and briefly describe your visit experience.
It is rare to have the opportunity to explore the magnificent Occidental Campus due to my current location. However, I was able to access to one of the various useful resources on the occidental website; it displayed a virtual tour of the campus. Through watching campus tour videos from different angles and doing copious amount of research, I found myself drawn to the exquisite structure of the campus and concluded that I belong at Occidental. I pictured myself studying for examinations in Clapp Library, enjoying musical concerts at Throne Hall, doing Yoga at Lower Herrick and participating in scientific research projects at Hameetman Science Center. Although I have not gotten the opportunity to visit Oxy, I know I will be able to explore self-identity and obtain college experience under the amiable and pleasant Oxy Campus.
2. There are thousands of colleges and universities. Why are you applying to Occidental? In your opinion, what distinguishes it from your other choices?
"An institution with intimate scale and infinite scope"- Ted Mitchell, former Oxy president. This statement truly embodies the main reasons why Occidental is my first choice of college. The "infinite scope", Occidental, provides well-rounded education and diversity. For me, coming to college is about learning how to think critically, expanding my perception and be able to develop my own epistemology- a true liberal arts education with peers that are from all different geological background is which Occidental College devotedly offer. The "intimate scale" refers to the opportunity of getting to know college professors on an individual level. It is uncommon for most of the colleges, but Occidental provides that to its student. It demonstrates that Oxy values its student a unique participant. With the nurture of affable weather and various opportunities in California; close-knit campus atmosphere and the liberal art education, I believe that is how Occidental students are able to stand out from the crowd, and these qualities distinguish Occidental from the other colleges.
3. Choose a book you have read-at any point in your life-that most affected you and clarify its effect.
I relish the joy books brought me; they helped me to dawdle the time that I spent waiting for my mother to pick me up from school. I dwelled at the school library with the librarian and books than at home with my own family when I was in elementary school. During that period, books often take place of the educating role, and Anne and the Green Gables affected me the most. A fiction of coming of age adventure and embracing one self's idiosyncrasy for young adult. My parents provided us that everything we desire within their ability; however, sometimes they forgot that the most precious thing they can provide was to spend quality time with us. I feet like that I am Anne, both sharing a sense of independence and blithe attitude. Her Protestant education is equivalent to my traditional Taiwanese family, a mold that impedes the progress of individual, particularly females. In the story, Anne manages to maintain herself as a fiercely independent and opinionated girl. Over times, she develops into a driven and well-rounded young woman with a clear vision of her future. Anne became my role model. Wise yet pure, ambitious yet compassionate individual was rooted in my mind and ever since I have determined to
5. Identify and describe a personal habit or idiosyncrasy-of any nature-that helps define you.
Adventurous is the idiosyncrasy that suits me the best. I crave for independence, innovation and investigating the inexperienced. At the age of fourteen, I decided to leave home and study aboard at Western Canada. At the age of fifteen, I decided to investigate Eastern Canada and moved there for two years. During those two years, I decided to self-study Spanish and volunteered in Costa Rica. At the age of seventeen, I applied for the merit scholarship at a boarding school and was determined to ascertain the life style between private school and public school. I enjoy encountering the unknown and the excitements that come along with the adventures. Life is precious; therefore, it should be cherished by stepping out the comfort zone with open-mindedness and gratitude. Make intelligent adjustment and enjoy the possibility in life, is my interpretation of being adventurous also the definition of myself.
