Why is Reed college a good fit for you?
I am not looking for a typical college experience. I don't want to be a typical person. I want to live in wonder and curiosity, as a world citizen, and as someone who continues to be inspired and delighted by life. I don't want to go to college where I will sail through because of my natural ability, I want be pushed and poked and thrown off my comfortable seat of preconceived notions, I want to challenged, upended, and delighted by the entire process. Reed is the place that would do it!
Not to mention the hundreds of pun opportunities going to Reed would create!
My life in a school in Holden Village had a large role to play in my academic experience, and I found the teaching methods that Holden and Reed share work very well for me. Holden village is a small, isolated retreat center in the Cascade Mountains. Our "Holden Academy" had 9 students with one brave teacher. My time here completely upended my conceived notions of what a school education could be. In my previous life I had gone to a small school in rural Nebraska, I had perfect grades, but the education was tedious at best. My experience at Holden was fantastic, the courses were challenging, they made me think in new ways, and our courses involved lectures, discussions, papers, debates and projects. With very, very small classes, we had lots of dialogue and conversation, and "busy" work was nonexistent. Importantly, we had a say in what we learned about, and I was able to pursue many of the topics and interests that really fascinated me. My two years here were academically the most demanding of my life, and the most fruitful. Many of the aspects of my education there are mirrored in Reed's philosophy and teaching style.
One of my favorite high school learning memories was in my Algebra 2 class, my teacher, a philosophic and wonderful woman, decided to begin our section on parabolas by teaching us the basics of juggling, starting a daily ritual. From then on we juggled 10 minutes every day before beginning math, we would discuss with her anything and everything, from current events in Mongolia, to our opinions on infinity. Though our juggling had little to do with mathematical equations, these discussions made me think, and I loved the ten minutes that we had to discuss whatever sparked our curiosity. I want an education that is integrative and flexible, allowing for exploration....
I then moved to the coast of Washington and took all of my senior year classes in the Running Start program, at the local college. I had decided to take a gap year and, using the money I had earned working at a bakery, I went to Europe for 9 months, where I spent most of my time volunteering on organic farms. I learned an incredible amount from this experience, living and being in a culture was amazing and challenging, and the wonder that I experienced broadened my thinking and understanding. I also confirmed and intensified my wonder about how other cultures think, live, and function. I decided that I wanted to experience another culture in a more in-depth way, and this past year I returned to Madrid to work as an Au Pair for a year, allowing me to learn Spanish and live within the Spanish culture. As someone who is particularly interested in pursuing International Relations an Politics, Reed has a multicultural angle that is important to me.
In my experience, education has been available every minute of my life. There are no limits to curiosity and a desire to learn, anywhere that you allow your mind to explore. I believe that Reed will give me the tools and resources to make my college education as rich as it can be, with professors and classes that I believe will challenge my imagination., broaden my perspectives, and teach me knew ways of thinking. I feel that I learn best in an environment where I am not necessarily taught, but one where I am helped and encouraged to discover.
It is important for me to have a low student-teacher ratio, for I desire to connect with my professors and be able to get as much from them as I can. I learn very well and enjoy engaging in discussion and debate, learning from different opinions and viewpoints. I know that I work very well in discussion-based classrooms, where it's necessary to be an active part of the group. I am also very drawn to the fact that there is such a small, close community in Reed. I know that my peers and the friend I will meet will play a incredibly large part in my college education and at Reed I would look forward to meeting interesting, remarkable, and out of the ordinary people.
I respond well to a system that uses evaluations instead of grades, with grades its to easy to slip into the thought that you are learning for the purpose of getting good grades, losing sight of the real purpose, learning for the sake of learning, wonder and curiosity. I feel at Reed I could learn for these reasons, as well as contribute positively, while gaining a unique and fantastic education. I believe the education Reed gives is a exceptional one, and the experiences that I've had outside the classroom will bring a valuable and unique perspective. I would love to be at Reed, and with a match like this, Reed hopefully would love to have me too!
