Stanford short answer. My favorite books, Spending my summers riding and JFK

Some criticism and advice on these would be wonderful! Please check out my long essay as well!

Name your favorite books, authors, films, and/or musical artists.
Books: Gone With the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, Lord of the Rings, Mists of Avalon, Fox in Socks, Hero and the Crown, Sabriel, Wuthering Heights, Dresden Files, Paradise Lost, Water for Elephants, Phantom of the Opera, Peter Pan Authors: Robin McKinley, Milton, Rowling, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Tolkien. Musical Artists: Bach, Debussy, Gershwin, Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Mcfly, John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Snow Patrol, Gary Alan, Toby Keith, Phil Vassar, Jamie Cullum, John Williams, Sousa, Hans Zimmer.

Character count: 443 without spaces.
Characters available 300

What newspapers, magazines, and/or websites do you enjoy?
Inc., MacWorld, Fast Company, Arabian Horse Times, TV Guide (I'm obsessed, I'm not gonna lie), Vox (a newspaper written by high school students in Spokane, my home town, but was recently cut due to lack of funding). The internet feeds my addictions Zappos for shoes, Amazon for books, and Google for knowledge.

Character Count: 244 including spaces.
Characters available 300

What is the most significant challenge that society faces today?
Dependence on technology has taught kids to be anti-social, and lacking in interpersonal communications. Kids would rather text than talk, play videogames than soccer, and have stopped reading. They express emotion through symbols, are no longer capitalizing words and are using the Internet to create alternate realities to be the center of attention.

Character count- 300 including spaces.
Characters Available- 300

How did you spend your last two summers?
For the last two years I competed at Arabian Youth Nationals on my horses. My event is reining, an Olympic event. Through dedication and willpower I have been ranked in the top 5 riders of my age group eleven times. My family also realized a lifelong dream with a trip through Ireland, driving from village to village, creating memories and adventures.

Character Count: 245 without spaces
Characters available 300

What were your favorite events (e.g., performances, exhibits, sporting events, etc.) this past year?

For the last two years I competed at Arabian Youth Nationals on my horses. My event is reining, an Olympic event. Through dedication and willpower I have been ranked in the top 5 riders of my age group eleven times. My family also realized a lifelong dream with a trip through Ireland, driving from village to village, creating memories and adventures.

Character count: 286
Characters available 300

What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed?
I wish I could have witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy. To this day there are many unanswerable questions and theories about what happened in that car. It would be fascinating to be able to go back to and to carefully watch the president and see if I could discern the events more clearly than the witnesses who did not know what was going to happen.

Character Count-296
Characters available 300

What five words best describe you?
Intrepid (like Nancy Drew), serene (like the rain), intriguing (like Batman), classic (like Grace Kelly), sparkly (not the vampire kind).
Character count with spaces: 138 What do you think about my take on this question? Is it unique or just silly?
Characters available 300

I'd suggest NOT using the same answer for how you spent your last summer and your favore events. This is a chance to show the admins all you can about yourself, so why would you waste space by stating the same thing when you could be exposing other sides? Take advantage of that. Also, not sure I'd use "sparkly" for one of your five words. What does that mean? That you have shiny skin, or that you have an effervescent personality? Pick something less ambiguous. Also, I'm not sure you ought to use intriguing, especially referring to Batman, which doesn't make much sense to me. Everyone is intruging to some degree. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I'd go with classic either. These adjectives don't really say anything about you...

Also, you could elaborate on your trip to Ireland a bit, seeing as how you have extra space.

In Response to mmmargarita. Sparkly was meant to mean an effervescent personality, You're probably right about intriguing, and I used classic because that's who I am. I try to emulate Grace and Audrey in how I dress and how I act. Do I need better descriptions to help this come across?

These are all the revised answers I have made so far today already. Let me know what you think!

Name your favorite books, authors, films, and/or musical artists.
Books: Gone With the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, Lord of the Rings, Mists of Avalon, Fox in Socks, Hero and the Crown, Wuthering Heights, Dresden Files, Paradise Lost, Water for Elephants, Phantom of the Opera, Peter Pan, Shakespeare Musical Artists: Bach, Debussy, Gershwin, Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Mcfly, Jason Mraz, Snow Patrol, Toby Keith, Phil Vassar, Jamie Cullum, John Williams, Sousa, Hans Zimmer. Character count: 377 without spaces.

Characters available 300

What newspapers, magazines, and/or websites do you enjoy?
Inc., MacWorld, Fast Company, Arabian Horse Times, TV Guide (I'm obsessed, I'm not gonna lie), Vox (a newspaper written by high school students in Spokane, my home town, but was recently cut due to lack of funding). The internet feeds my addictions Zappos for shoes, Amazon for books, and Google for knowledge.

Character Count: 244 including spaces.
Characters available 300

What is the most significant challenge that society faces today?
Dependence on technology has taught kids to be anti-social, and lacking in interpersonal communications. Kids would rather text than talk, play videogames than soccer, and have stopped reading. They express emotion through symbols, are no longer capitalizing words and are using the Internet to create alternate realities to be the center of attention.

Character count- 300 not including spaces.
Characters Available- 300

How did you spend your last two summers?
I've spent the last two summers traveling. Driving from Washington all the way down to New Mexico, I saw parts of the country you never see flying. Ireland in 2008 fulfilled a dream. Driving on the left, eating local culinary fare and marveling at the landscape. This summer the Grand Canyon made me feel small as I traveled by raft 15 miles down it's center.

Character Count: 295 without spaces
Characters available 300

What were your favorite events (e.g., performances, exhibits, sporting events, etc.) this past year?

I have been an equestrian for nine years. I have qualified on my horses to ride at Arabian Youth Nationals in reining, an Olympic event. Through hard work, dedication and willpower I have been ranked in the top 5 riders of my age group eleven times. I'm fortunate to have had the chance to show against the finest riders and most talented horses in the country.

Character count: 286
Characters available 300

What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed?
I'd like to have witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy. There are many unanswered questions and theories about that day. It would be fascinating to go back, knowing what happened to and to carefully watch the President and see if I could discern the facts more clearly than the witnesses who's memories were distorted by shock and devastation.

Character Count-296
Characters available 300

What five words best describe you?
Intrepid (like Nancy Drew, courageous with a lust for adventure)
Serene (like the rain on a quiet fall morning or a field whispering in the wind)
Eccentric (like the Stanford Marching Band)
Classic (like Grace Kelly, Jackie O and Audrey Hepburn)
Vibrant
Character count with spaces: 215 What do you think about my take on this question? Is it unique or just silly?
Characters available 300

For historical moment I wrote: I wish I could witness now, and my wish has been fulfilled!

Well my explanation is this:
I live in the present, and maybe the future; I dwell not on the past. I live on Matthew 6:12 "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors"

I understand what you are saying, but calls a gruesome image to mind. Maybe you should say it in a different way..."I wish I could have been there the day of Jonh F. Kennedy's assassination". This still communicates the same idea but in a less visual manner. Hope this helps.

What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed?
I wish I could have witnessed the assassination of John F. Kennedy. To this day there are many unanswerable questions and theories about what happened in that car. It would be fascinating to be able to go back to and to carefully watch the president and see if I could discern the events more clearly than the witnesses who did not know what was going to happen.

Wait, I thought it was recommended we limit all of these to two lines...so no elaboration??