Do these essays answer the prompts well?
Describe the world you come from; for example, your family, community or school, or passion and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.
Weightless and unbounded (well only by conventional PADI limits) I glided effortlessly through saline liquid filled with various ctenophores, cnidarians, and nekton. This was the perfect cure for my detail-oriented mind. Hiding in the cracks of the coral reef lay many critters that hauntingly stared back at me in utter shock, wondering, predicting my next move. They fired thoughts of survival, while I thoughts of awe. As I continued my nektonic ways, schools of fish busily swam by on their way to eat, mate, or out run. The oceanic car wash was in business as two Peterson shrimp cleaned the grouper's mouth with their bright blue claws. Organisms big and small drift through their own busy lives. I just floated by as a new world became apparent to me.
Forty minutes ago I sat on a boat just outside the realm of the new worlds, but now I am four atmospheres below sea level breathing a mix of compressed air, slowly accumulating nitrogen gas in my blood. The hours of physics, physiology, equipment management, environment surveys, and rescue techniques, on top of the countless lectures on the danger of this activity, were not enough to prepare me for the myriad of unimaginable life forms that are found outside the confines of orthodox gravity. There is city life down here that is oblivious to what lives on its neighboring terrestrial borders. Lurking in every crevasse is some organism that is making a difference in its respected biome. The new dimension of marine science caught me in its current. Now I need my biological fix.
Every chance that was available I zipped up and dropped anchor. Fish species identifications, running transects along the rocky substrate, loading hundreds of golf-ball sized urchins into mesh bags for relocations, dissecting various organisms, or even dragging huge bags of trash out of the water after hours of underwater rubbish removal seemed to feed my addiction. My muscles ached while fighting to beat the heavy currents, my nerves shattered when my dive buddy was not in sight, and my heart pounded when creatures would appear from the dark water. But I continued the trek because every time, there was so much left that I knew was unseen, if only I had a little more time to observe. The key to our survival lies under the multi-colored waters amongst the corals, algae, kelp, marshes, and estuaries.
Whether I choose to study physics, engineering, chemistry, medicine, or biology, the pelagic domain offers me unlimited assets. By giant striding into the last earthly frontier, my world's limitations cease to exist. The abundance of materials, cures, and beauties set my mind into overdrive. I want to explore, I want to classify, I want to understand all the countless resources my home away from home has to offer.
Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?
I dress in my freshly-pressed white uniform and put on my red belt with two shiny stripes. Hopefully this would be the last day I would wear this belt. The testing platform was outlined by the judge's tables and the audience's chairs. My mom and dad soon joined the ranks among the other conversational parents, and I was left to fend for myself. Luckily, my good friend Natasha was one of the people who was also testing for her black belt. We decided to help each other through this ordeal. We let our nerves settle as we heard the instructors yell, "Begin!"
Our muscles needed to be warmed up, so we started off jogging one mile. While we ran, Natasha and I quizzed each other on the culmination ten Korean words. Upon completion of the warm-up, the higher ranked masters lined us up according to our belts: Black, Red II, Red I, Red, Green II, Green I, Green, Blue I, Blue, Orange, Purple, Yellow, White. I was put in one of the front lines so that everyone's gaze would be set upon me. Part one of the test was a series of ten elaborate forms that had to be completed perfectly. I landed every jump, snapped all of my kicks and punches, and yelled loudly.
Then came the techniques. We were partnered up with someone of similar size and belt level and told to run through the thirty practiced move, while being scrutinized by the surrounding masters. We twirled, hit, and fell.
Four hours into the test we were again partnered up with a competitor of similar stature prepared for sparring. With my luck, I was matched with the Grand Master Chong's own son. Little time was given to me to worry about the pros and cons of the situation. Before I knew it, the instructors had yelled out start, and I was bouncing around intently, trying to read the boy's eyes for his next move. We fought hard for thirty minutes, and we were dead even. We had the last five minutes to break the tie. Both exhausted and weary from the long intense fight spanning many yards of the grassy park, we were both keenly synced with the other's moves. At the last minute, we had run up to the Grand Master's table and stood there in our deep-bent-legged, ready-to-pounce stance. The son started to fake kick and threw a round house; I ducked right in time. And with all the momentum of the spring lift that had built up in my legs, I jumped one last time and (as if in The Matrix) kicked the son, right in front of his trainer father, across the jaw bone. The scene grew quiet. Would the Grand Master approve? The audience, the sparrers, the son, and I stared into the Master's face. He grinned and gave me the point.
After that I breezed through the cinder-block breaking and double front kick. This was it, the last thing. The culminating series of ten Korean words, pronounced perfectly to the Grand Master himself. Tae Kwon Do, The way of the hand and foot; Hana, Dool, Set, Net ... 1,2,3,; Sah Bam Nim, Instructor; Do Jang Traning Hall; Do Bok Uniform ; Yu Dan A, Black Belt Holder; Kuk Ki, National Flag; Mee Kuk Ki, American National Flag; Tae Kuk Ki, Korean National Flag; Pil Sung Certain Victory.
Open-ended
This question seeks to give students the opportunity to share important aspects of their schooling or their lives, such as their personal circumstances, family experiences and opportunities that were or were not available at their school or collegeďthat may not have been sufficiently addressed elsewhere in the application.
Is there anything you would like us to know about you or your academic record that you have not had the opportunity to describe elsewhere in this application?
With my mother and father both Russian mathematicians, I was programmed into learning math as fast as possible. I was put on the accelerated track back in 7th grade, when Lincoln Middle School provided that opportunity. From that point on, I put myself in a competitive mode and would not settle for a lower math class when I could be speeding ahead. I got straight A's every semester until junior year hit. I had the choice between Calc AB and the infamous BC. I, of course, looked down upon the "easier" AB class and took the plunge with BC. I figured since I got an A in Calc A, Calc BC would end up the same. But, boy, was I wrong. I took extensive notes, went in for help, and solved every problem. However, when the tests came around, I learned about all the holes in my knowledge. The first couple of tests went over fine. But as soon as we hit Optimization, it went downhill. I felt like I understood everything at home; however, under pressure, I was not so confident. I tried to alleviate the problem by solving myriads of problems but to no avail. I understood the calculus, but I had trouble proving it in timed situations. I am going to try anew once I am in college, with a new professor and new approach to calculus. But I have not been swayed from learning more mathematics in my high school, and I am currently taking the last math course offered at our school, Statistics. Although, I am taking a break from Calculus for now, I will be back.
