1、Subject: Successful Princeton Applicant Through all of my accomplishments and disappointments, I have always been es pecially proud of the dedication and fervor I possess for my personal belief s and values. Unfortunately, it has often been difficult for me to remain ou twardly firm and confident in
2、 a town where most people think alike and rejec t exceptions. Whenever I have expressed my position as a pro-life advocate, peers have badgered, accused, and ridiculed me for simply believing in somet hing that they scorn. Despite all the pressure, I never waivered from my bel ief, yet I became frus
3、trated and began to lose the courage to publicly expre ss my opinion on this controversial topic. To gain some insight and reassura nce for myself, I attended the New Jersey Right to Life Convention in the sp ring of 1995. This experience uplifted me and offered great inspiration and enlightenment.
4、At the convention I received an overwhelming amount of suppor t and encouragement from wonderful people who advocate the very principles I believe in. This convention was so inspiring that the next day in school I was able to relate my experience to one of my biggest opponents on the subje ct. Also,
5、 the abundant information available at the convention enabled me to defend my position on abortion more effectively. Attending this convention accomplished two things. It proved my commitment to my belief, in that I too k the initiative to strengthen and support my opinion, refusing to give up o r l
6、ose heart. Unlike many others, I was eager and willing to gain new knowle dge so I may successfully promote my belief to others. In addition, this con vention invigorated my confidence to stand up for what I believe in and taug ht me to never lose the courage of my convictions * Subject: Succesful C
7、ornell Applicant Tell us about opinion have you had to defend. How has this affected your bel ief system? I chuckle to myself every time I think about this. I am perceive d as a mild-mannered, intelligent individual until I mention that I am invol ved in riflery. It is interesting to watch someones
8、expression change. It i s as if I instantaneously grew a pair of horns and a sharp set of claws. Bel ieve me this gets worst; I am a member of the NRA. I try to tell these folks that I belong to the NRA to fire my rifle. “Oh my God! You fire real guns? with real bullets?!?“ they remark with a perple
9、xed look on their face. Besid es having horns and claws, I now possess a tail and leathery wings. This is how it began five years ago. I had played on a soccer team for several years . As I grew older I began having difficultyplaying soccer because of shortne ss of breath. I was diagnosed as having
10、mild asthma which ended my soccer ca reer and eliminated my participation in most physical sports. Shortly afterw ard, during a Boy Scout summer camp, I participated in riflery at their shoo ting range. This was the first time I had ever touched a firearm. To my amaz ement, I won the camps first pla
11、ce award for marksmanship. I was more than eager when a friend of mine asked me if I would like to join a shooting club . My parents were wary when I asked to join the rifle club. My mother feared guns, but my father felt there was no problem with trying this sport. Grate fully, he gave me the oppor
12、tunity totry rifle marksmanship, despite secretly hoping that I would quit. Both of my parents were afraid of what people wou ld think about their sons involvement with guns. Like my parents a majority of people believe that all firearms are dangerous to our society. All they remember are the hyster
13、ical news releases of street violence and injured chi ldren.I am often asked how many deer Ive shot. Frankly, I couldnever bring myself to injure another living creature and neitherwould most of the compet itors I have met. Yet, I keep finding myself defending the sport from all of the misconception
14、s that surround it. Most people have developed a negative impression of the sport and I have found that these prejudices are difficult , if not impossible, to rectify. Because of this conflict, I have become an open minded individual. I express my opinions without reservation, and I hav e learned to
15、 accept opinions and viewpoints contrary to my own. I do not int end to alter what I enjoy because of the ignorance of friends and acquaintan ces. If people have a negative view of me simply because of the sport I am a ctive in, then they must be so superficial that they cannot see the person w ho I
16、 really am. I am no longer apprehensive of being perceived as a gun toti ng, trigger happy fanatic, even though I still endeavor to educate my friend s and relatives on the beauty of this sport. * Subject: East Asian Studies Its not often that a kid growing up in small-town New Mexico strikes up a p
17、 assion for Chinese civilization. Nevertheless, my interest in different cult ures flourished during my childhood and adolescence in New Mexico. The beaut y and breathtakingly scenic landscape of this state is enriched with the pro nounced cultural diversity brought about by Pueblo, Hopi and Navajo
18、nations and a large Hispanicpopulation that represents close to 50% of state. When I was in kindergarten I attended a bilingual school in Lemitar, a small town in southern New Mexico. Most of the children at this school were Hispanic. T his allowed me at a very early age to experience a language and
19、 culture diff erent from mine. My father has always had a keen interest in people from oth er countries and cultural backgrounds. As a librarian, my father has always encouraged me to read not only Western Philosophy, but Eastern Philosophy as well. In addition, he inspired me to see life from a dif
20、ferent perspective. To a large extent, and by most definitions, I have always been a non-traditi onal and unconventional student. I went to a high school with a curriculum t hat was as challenging for me as any course I have taken in college. This hi gh school was unique because we studied everythin
21、g from the origin of Wester n Civilization to modern-day Western thought. Another unique feature of this school was that at the end of our senior year we had to give an oral presen tation in front of a host of panelists from St. Johns College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This experience helped me develo
22、p my ability to think critically and present a cogent thesis. It forced me to grow not only as a student, bu t more importantly, as an individual.When I graduated from high school I reb elled against traditional education and decided not to apply to college. Thi s decision was to the great dismay of
23、 my parents, who had entered college im mediately after high school. With much resistance, I enrolled at Santa Fe Co mmunity College. This was just to satisfy my parents wishes, and I spent on ly one semester there. Although I wanted to study and continue to learn, I y earned to reach out to people
24、and find a different mode of study - one whic h would allow me to understand myself better so that I could relate better t o the world around me.With this goal, I decided to attend the New Mexico Aca demy of Massage and Advanced Healing Arts. The school provided me with a uni que mind/body balance t
25、hat has helped me become a more well-rounded person. I studied subjects that ranged from Anatomy and Physiology to Yoga and Tai C hi. After graduating, I got a job at the Santa Fe Sport Medicine Institute a s a Physical Therapy Assistant. I used Massage techniques to help people who were injured in
26、auto accidents or sporting events. This type of work allowe d me to directly help people - the people I massaged told me that the pain they experienced prior to the massage had subsided. Relieving the pains of t hese people nurtured in me a sense of purpose. In addition, it increased my interest in
27、Eastern Philosophy, making me want to learn more about Asia.I be gan to read many classical Chinese texts to further my knowledge about Chine se Philosophy. Soon I developed a profound interest in learning how to read and speak the Chinese language. The opportunities for studying Chinese were very l
28、imited, however. At 22,I had saved up some money and now decided to go live in Asia to experience a Chinese culture first-hand, and to learn how t o speak Mandarin Chinese. My desire to go to Asia was spawned by a genuine i nterest in reconciling differences I found between Eastern and Western cultu
29、 res. Similarly, I wanted to pursue this experience because it would provide me with a unique opportunity to broaden the perspective I had on the world a s a whole. This is how I ended living in Taichung, Taiwan and visiting mainl and China. When I arrived in Taiwan, I remember getting off the airpl
30、ane and hearing everyone speaking Chinese. Everything I saw and heard was unfamilia r to me. Seeing a different world made a huge impact on me; I can still reca ll how exotic my environment was. In Taiwan, I went through an intensive Chi nese language immersion program. Slowly I began to feel more c
31、omfortable liv ing there, as I learned to communicate with people in Chinese. I was invited to teach English at a private school for children, but I told the school th at I had no teaching experience. The school informed me that if I took a sho rt teaching training class, I would be ready to teach.
32、And they even offered to pay me for the training classes. However, I refused to be paid for the t raining. The school was so impressed by this that after I completed the trai ning, they appointed me director of the English Language program. I was asto unded by the generosity and honesty that I recei
33、ved from the people in Taiwa n.This was a truly remarkable experience. In Taiwan, I lived with a Chinese family. This allowed me to assimilate my culture with the customs and habits of this particular Chinese family. We had long conversations about fundamen tal aspects of Chinese culture and philoso
34、phy. The family also brought me to all the Chinese festivals and celebrations. It was in Taiwan that I realize d I must return to college in the United States, and earn a degree in East A sian Studies. After spending a year in Taiwan, I returned to the United Stat es to complete my degree. My time T
35、aiwan taught me so much about myself, and it gave me the perspective to see things from both a Western and Eastern po int of view.Since my return to the United States, my life has seen some exci ting changes. I got married about a year after I returned from Taiwan. My wi fe is originally from Venezu
36、ela, and she has introduced a new host of cultur al norms that I am learning about. During my free time I teach my mother-in- law English. She, of course, insists that I need to attain fluency in both S panish and Chinese. And that is exactly what I am doing. My wife and I are b oth students at Rutg
37、ers University, and we share our ambitions, hopes and ex pectation of attending graduate school. Currently I am a senior, majoring in East Asian Studies with a minor in Political Science.The growing importance of Asia as a determining factor in global economy and the increasing intera ction and comm
38、erce of the U. S. with China, suggests to me that pursing a ca reer in law would be pertinent and appealing. My knowledge of Chinese cultur e and mastery of the Chinese language would be a very strong asset, and it w ould let me make a significant contribution to the political, commercial and cultur
39、al exchange between the U. S. and Asia. * Subject: UMass. Amherst Anthropology As a double major in Anthropology and Psychology at the University of Rhode Island, I have gained a strong background in both fields. My background is e specially strong in physical anthropology, my primary field of inter
40、est. Phy sical anthropology consumes my life; I do not study it because I find it som ewhat interesting but because I am devoted to it; I want to make it my life. In addition to maintaining a high GPA throughout my college career, and mak ing the Dean抯 list several times, I have also worked hard as
41、a supervisor a t Brooks Pharmacy for the past five years. Working my own way through colleg e not only demonstrates my determination to gaining a high quality education and the seriousness with which I treat academics, but also attests to my le adership ability, maturity, and responsibility, both as
42、 a supervisor and as a student at the University of Rhode Island. My primary goal in applying to your graduate program is to prepare myself for a career in forensic anthrop ology. Interested in furthering the current body of research and in improvin g techniques used in the identification of human r
43、emains, I am very committe d to pursuing forensic anthropology and believe your graduate program in ant hropology will provide me with an excellent foundation in the area of physic al and forensic anthropology. With a Masters and Ph.D., I will be well prepa red to lead a very promising career. While
44、 I have no doubt the program will push me to my limits, I am confident that I can face the rigorous challenges posed by graduate study and thrive under the demanding environment that adv anced studies entail. From my transcripts, you will see that not only am I a well-balanced student, I actually th
45、rive in rigorous, upper level courses, courses akin to graduate-level courses. Armed with the confidence that I can excel at difficult courses, I believe I can achieve the highest level of su ccess and satisfaction by taking the most demanding graduate program availab le. In addition to my ability t
46、o excel in the classroom, I have demonstrate d a proficiency in all aspects of conducting research. Research has become a fundamental part of my college career, and I hope it will become the primar y component of my future. As a sophomore at the University of Rhode Island, I designed a research proj
47、ect entitled “Grooming and Affiliative Behavior in Three Species of Non-Human Primates“ under the guidance of Dr. Su Boatright -Horowitz in the Psychology Department at URI. My research proposal gained a pproval from the Institutional Care and Use Committee at URI and at the Roge r William Park and
48、Zoo where the three species of non-human primates (Gibbon s, Sakis, and Lemurs) included in my study are kept. In addition to writing a successful research proposal, I also wrote and received a small funds gran t from the University of Rhode Island in order to conduct my research. By be ing intimate
49、ly involved in every aspect of research, from proposal and grant writing to data collection and analysis, I have learned what it takes to be a researcher, but more than that, I have learned how fulfilling and interes ting research can be.In the spring of 2005,I will be presenting my results a t a poster presentation at the University of Rhode Island, and am planning t o eventually publish my findings. Not only has this experience shown me that I am capable of excelling in conducting research, b
