Here's my response to the prompt "How did you learn about Vassar and what aspects do you find appealing?"
Show no mercy. I appreciate your help a lot.
The whiteness challenges me. It penetrates to my thoughts, down my throat. Ironic... It looks so fragile, yet it holds an enormous power in my eyes. It is so thin, almost transparent, and in the same time it doesn't allow me to see what hides behind it. I should be the one to tell that. The question is: Am I ready?
I stare at the empty canvas, depicted in the very first page of Vassar's handbook. I look at the red letters "What are you going to put on the canvas?" Yes, it is my canvas. I have never been a great painter, but this is not the usual canvas anyway. Yet, in this very moment, painting seems easier than doing what I am supposed to do: choose for my future, determine my path. Reluctantly, my fingers touch the side of the paper to advance to the next page.
Pictures. Unique. I try to find what is so special about them: probably the fact they are so different from each other, probably the feeling that the smiling faces portrayed in those pictures seem so happy and real. I can imagine my picture there, among those trees, using the pile of books beside me as a pillow to rest my head and enjoy the stunning scenery of Hudson Valley. I catch myself smiling, as I would smile if I were there, inside that imaginary picture.
Next page. Numbers. A "50" catches my sight: "Vassar students come from 50 states and 50 foreign countries." Those simple words, typed in small letters, made my heart pump and my smile widen. I loved the opportunity to emerge in an incredibly globalized environment and foster that unique diversity: may it be simply through a bit of my native language or the traditional curd pie, as well as through my dreams and my windows to the world. Though, in my eyes that number expresses not only rich diversity. It also sheds light to a college that encourages international students and gives them the opportunity to receive an excellent education, even though they might not be able to financially support it. Vassar immediately won my respect for this.
The next pages kept me throughout hooked. From the senses the initial pictures gave me, I passed into experiencing what it means to be a Vassar student. I met Luke and ran eagerly through the lines that described his summer on an archeological dig in Greece, just to realize how many incredible opportunities Vassar has to offer to his students. One of my biggest passions has always been traveling and meeting new cultures and environments, and Vassar's summer internship programs seem like an exciting and very rewarding way to fulfill my passion. I also encountered Allyson, and I was amazed at discovering an element of Vassar's long and renowned history: the tradition of the "Founder's Day". Rebecca gave me an insight to the vibrant student life, and, after further research on Vassar's site, I could easily picture myself as a "Habitat for Humanity" activist. Every person I met, with his unique dreams and passions, helped me understand that Vassar is a wonderful architect of bright presents and futures.
I come closer to the handbook's back cover, with every word impressed in my mind. I skim through Vassar's Curriculum, to stop where my passion lies. Neuroscience and Behavior - the perfect blend between my immutable attraction to Biology and my desire to understand and help people. In this field, where many potentially life-revolutionizing questions are still unanswered, I am thrilled by the possibility to discover and to make a change. Vassar's excellent Neuroscience and Behavior program, combining a renowned faculty with seminars, field works, independent works and not only, epitomizes to me a chance which I cannot let slip.
I have finished reading. I smile outside, I smile inside. Yet, I do not close the book. I slip back to page one. The canvas. Now, I am sure. I have the answer.
Show no mercy. I appreciate your help a lot.
The whiteness challenges me. It penetrates to my thoughts, down my throat. Ironic... It looks so fragile, yet it holds an enormous power in my eyes. It is so thin, almost transparent, and in the same time it doesn't allow me to see what hides behind it. I should be the one to tell that. The question is: Am I ready?
I stare at the empty canvas, depicted in the very first page of Vassar's handbook. I look at the red letters "What are you going to put on the canvas?" Yes, it is my canvas. I have never been a great painter, but this is not the usual canvas anyway. Yet, in this very moment, painting seems easier than doing what I am supposed to do: choose for my future, determine my path. Reluctantly, my fingers touch the side of the paper to advance to the next page.
Pictures. Unique. I try to find what is so special about them: probably the fact they are so different from each other, probably the feeling that the smiling faces portrayed in those pictures seem so happy and real. I can imagine my picture there, among those trees, using the pile of books beside me as a pillow to rest my head and enjoy the stunning scenery of Hudson Valley. I catch myself smiling, as I would smile if I were there, inside that imaginary picture.
Next page. Numbers. A "50" catches my sight: "Vassar students come from 50 states and 50 foreign countries." Those simple words, typed in small letters, made my heart pump and my smile widen. I loved the opportunity to emerge in an incredibly globalized environment and foster that unique diversity: may it be simply through a bit of my native language or the traditional curd pie, as well as through my dreams and my windows to the world. Though, in my eyes that number expresses not only rich diversity. It also sheds light to a college that encourages international students and gives them the opportunity to receive an excellent education, even though they might not be able to financially support it. Vassar immediately won my respect for this.
The next pages kept me throughout hooked. From the senses the initial pictures gave me, I passed into experiencing what it means to be a Vassar student. I met Luke and ran eagerly through the lines that described his summer on an archeological dig in Greece, just to realize how many incredible opportunities Vassar has to offer to his students. One of my biggest passions has always been traveling and meeting new cultures and environments, and Vassar's summer internship programs seem like an exciting and very rewarding way to fulfill my passion. I also encountered Allyson, and I was amazed at discovering an element of Vassar's long and renowned history: the tradition of the "Founder's Day". Rebecca gave me an insight to the vibrant student life, and, after further research on Vassar's site, I could easily picture myself as a "Habitat for Humanity" activist. Every person I met, with his unique dreams and passions, helped me understand that Vassar is a wonderful architect of bright presents and futures.
I come closer to the handbook's back cover, with every word impressed in my mind. I skim through Vassar's Curriculum, to stop where my passion lies. Neuroscience and Behavior - the perfect blend between my immutable attraction to Biology and my desire to understand and help people. In this field, where many potentially life-revolutionizing questions are still unanswered, I am thrilled by the possibility to discover and to make a change. Vassar's excellent Neuroscience and Behavior program, combining a renowned faculty with seminars, field works, independent works and not only, epitomizes to me a chance which I cannot let slip.
I have finished reading. I smile outside, I smile inside. Yet, I do not close the book. I slip back to page one. The canvas. Now, I am sure. I have the answer.