POST 4 - (Essay) Tell us about a person who influenced your life in a significant way. (Princeton)

I am not one to b e easily influenced by my surroundings and those in it. Usually, I try to have an open mind about things around me and try not to let things that don’t matter get the better of me. But there is one time in my life where I can remember that I was easily influenced to do something I never thought I would do. It was not a malicious act, not at all. Neither was it a saintly act. It was a simple motion with a cause and effect that did not go beyond the boundaries of my house and my life.

One day, when I was only 7 years old, my uncle was visiting us in India from Chicago. That was a big deal on its own. One afternoon, I saw him take out something odd from his room. It was a large, black, curvy, case for some sort of object. It was a guitar. As he took the guitar out of its case, I found myself, for no reason at all, hovering closer and closer to my uncle until I reached the sofa he was sitting on and sat next to him. My eyes were glued to the guitar, my ears were deaf to everything else but the sound of the guitar, and my fingers itched with anticipation to hold and play the guitar.

I was an incredibly shy child so it was difficult for me to speak. But I somehow mustered the courage to make my voice heard over the sonorous noted coming from the guitar. I sheepishly asked my uncle if it was alright if I could maybe try the guitar if he did not mind. He started laughing. He said no problem and instantly handed me over the guitar and left me to explore this new entity on my own.

I learned quite a few things from him about the guitar for the month he was visiting us. And when it was time for him to leave, I felt sad that both the guitar and he was leaving but I did not say anything. When I woke up the next morning, I saw a strange object in my room. It was a big, black, curvy case with a guitar inside!

From that day on I started my journey to master the guitar to the best of my abilities. It was because of my uncle that I was fascinated by the guitar and it was because of his encouragement that I was able to muster the passion to pursue playing the guitar. Today, music, and the guitar have become an immense part of my life. My life revolves around me exploring the guitar and discovering new things on it. It has played a major role in helping me become what I am today. And I am extremely happy with the kind of person I am.

480 Words.

POST 3 -(Essay) You must begin with the sentence, “Many years later, he remembered his first experience with ice.”

Many years later he remembered his experience with ice. It was not elaborate, it was not flamboyant, it was not anticipated. But it was life changing, it was simply the first time he had ever witnessed water in such an alien form in such abundance. From where he previously came, even water was a luxury that a handful of people had the privilege of witnessing in profusion. Ice was unheard of. He remembered, as he lazily straightened his back on the soft, beaten leather of his living-room couch, as the hail steadily beat on the tiles of his five bedroom villa, his reaction to the first time he witnessed the miracle, because that is what is was to him at the time, of ice.

            He did not know how to react to the change in his surroundings. The light reaching his half-open eyes was unnaturally white and clean to be from his home. The last thing he remembered before loosing consciousness was being hit in the head with a cold, hollow, metal object which seemed to ring with a menacing gong as it came into contact with the flaking skin on the back of his head. He could still hear the ringing when he woke up.

It seemed as if ages had passed before he was able to convince his battered body to move from the awkward position it was in. Only after he was sitting straight he realized just how heavy every limb, every muscle, every movement was. As he sat motionless in the unfamiliar light, which his eyes could not seem to get used to, he noticed the presence of the unfamiliar sensation throughout his body. It was something his body had never witnessed before. It encompassed every cell, every tissue of his being. Even his head, littered with the warm blood of his own being, was not spared from this unknown sensation. It was only later he was able to give a name to that sensation. It was cold.

Only after his eyes slowly adjusted to the light after what seemed like several hours was he able to fully comprehend the predicament he was in. He found himself in another world upon waking. For a moment he thought he was dead, and that the brilliant white light was the atmosphere of the heavenly realm. But then he noticed the excruciating pain in his head. As he fell to the floor, his hands reached out in front of him expecting to hit the solid, discolored ground, but they continued to pass through what seemed like softer, smaller models of the diamonds that he was forced to collect in his home.

The pain subsided. It was almost as if it wasn’t there anymore. The sensation had somehow been paralyzed by the white, brittle substance that he could see in all four directions, and even falling from the sky. But that is not what surprised him, neither how he got to where he was. But what shocked him to the core of his very being was the fact that he was finally seeing his color reflected all around him.

The people from where he was from were all dark skinned, like the shadows of shadows walking the dark-brown, dust filled land. He was an oddity from where he was. His skin and his pale blue eyes had always been a cause of trouble for him. He was always treated differently, always treated worse. Like a stray Labrador which had been found one day amongst a pack of blood-thirsty, vicious, dark furred wolves. But, for reasons unknown to him, he felt at home in the cold white sand of his alien surroundings. He felt at peace to be away from the dirt, the gore, the blood, the endless seas of sand and despair that encompassed his home. He felt that he finally belonged in this strange white land.

But this feeling of belonging did not last for long. His pursuers had realized that he had moved from his original spot on the stark-white ground. He ran. As fast as his aching muscles could carry his malnourished body. He ran till his limbs were almost torn from their sockets, and he ran even further. He felt alive and secure in his surroundings. He was wearing nothing from his waist above, therefore the white of his skin melted in with the white of his surroundings. When he was finally sure that he was alone in his desolate surroundings, he walked towards where the sun was finally setting. He walked as a free man.

Every night he thought of his first experience with ice and how it had welcomed him and saved him that one night 50 years ago. He thought of how amazing it was that something as simple as water frozen beyond a certain temperature could mean so much more. Then he remembered that different things are of different importance to other people. Different things have different meanings for other. That is why he was a man that tried to never judge anyone by their appearance, unlike how he had been judged as an oddity because of his white skin and blue eyes.

860 Words 

POST 2 - (Essay) What single adjective do you think would be most frequently used to describe you by those who know you best? Briefly explain. (Stanford)

Honestly speaking, what is one adjective, one word in the endless ocean of words available to mankind for the use of describing something? A simple pebble found on the sidewalk could be depicted in countless different ways. To use a single word to explain something as complex and intricate as a human being is close to impossible if one is aiming to achieve greatness in ones work.

What is intriguing is that the purpose of such a question is to identify a certain characteristic about an individual which the reader of the work has never met before, and has absolutely no affiliations with. It is the goal of such an assignment to convey the strongest of an individual’s characteristics, the most dominant feature of a person using words on a piece of paper. But to limit the scope of the research that could be achieved about a person by asking him/her to write about how others most frequently describe him/her seems almost counterproductive.

For example, suppose if a person’s most dominant personal feature is his/her unattractiveness, which is a highly likely outcome. And suppose that this hypothetical, unattractive person is also extremely introverted, which results in him/her not having that many close friends which he/she could ask to honestly describe him/her. But suppose that person was an extremely hard worker, an amazing person, a genius in the making. If this person was to write an essay such as this one, he would not get very far in trying to leave an impression in the reader’s mind because all he would have been told by those around him would be related to his unattractiveness. Therefore, a question such as this one seems somewhat unfair to those who are not extremely popular, or extroverted.

Another curios aspect of this question is that is tries to understand an individual by asking him/her to describe themselves with a single adjective. If the reader of this essay is trying to determine what sort of a person the author of the essay is for the purpose of making a decision of whether or not the author is suited for the college which the reader is currently working for then, a single word seems somewhat vague. Because there are many generic words that people could use to describe themselves in a more flamboyant way than what they really are. There are also a limited number of words that people would want to describe themselves for the purpose of impressing the reader of the essay, someone who potentially holds the power of either accepting or rejecting the author from the college of their dreams. Therefore, I believe that the way the question is phrased, and what the question tries to accomplish, are two things which work as a juxtaposition, they fail to make sense to an extent.

But for the purpose, and the sake of accomplishing what the question asks me to finish, a single adjective that I think would be used to describe me by the people that know me best (assuming that there are such people, which I am not saying they aren’t) is that I think I would be described as an incredibly meticulous person for obvious reasons.

530 Words

POST 1 - (Essay) 1. What have you undertaken or done on your own in the last year or two that has nothing to do with academic work? (Northwestern)

The period of time from the August of 2011, to the beginning of April, 2012, was a very intriguing phase of disorder, frustration, exploration, and growth for me. It was the first half of my eleventh grade year: a whirlwind of confusion between what to do, what not to do, what is right, and what is wrong was to be expected. Partly the fault of my raging hormones caused by puberty, and partly the fault of my own risk-taking nature, I made an incredibly unwise decision that somewhat put my place in the school I go to at jeopardy. One of the consequences I received on behalf of my actions was that all of my titles and leadership positions were stripped from me. Because of it, I was left with more free time than I knew what to do with.

Another aspect of my life which is extremely relevant to fully answering this question is my passion and love for music. I have loved listening to, playing, and performing music ever since I can remember. And luckily, the school I attend has in incredibly large and promising music program. But I still felt it could be a lot better, encompass a larger variety of music, and include many more people from many different backgrounds with many different musical tastes.

My passion for music and the excessive free time I now found myself with led to me to start a venture in my school which had never been taken before. A group of three friends and I got together, and with the help of one staff member, we were able to pull of Woodstock School’s first Battle of the Bands. It initially started off as an idea and it evolved as we got closer to the day of the event which was the 24^th of March, 2012. And it became an entity of its own, growing far beyond anything any of us members would have even dared it to become.

Financially, it was a difficult project to pull off. We as a committee wanted minimal help from outside, and therefore had to do all the fundraising ourselves. The total cost of the project was 150,000 Indian Rupees (roughly $3,150) and we collected all of that money from fundraising at every occasion we could find. Some of the money came from the advertising and selling of t-shirts which we were forced to sell at a high profit id we were to break even in our event. But other than that, thanks to the generosity, and encouragement of the students and teachers of this school we were able to have a successful event where we were able to financially stay on top of things. Part of the reason the costs were so high was because we had hired an event manager from outside who supplied us with a six foot tall stage with an elevated platform for the percussionist, two frames full of multi-colored lights which stood 20 feet up in the air, a back drop with the Battle of the Bands logo, enough amplifiers and sound equipment to have an open-air rock concert, and a sound mixer which he took care of himself.

Our initial hopes for the event were miniscule to what it actually turned out to be in the end. Our aim was to get a few bands from school play and have the judges’ asses only their performance. Then one day, I received an email from a high school boy in Delhi (a city 300 km away from where we were) saying that he had heard of the Battle of the Bands from a friend of his and asking if it was possible for his band to participate in the event. We accepted his request. After that the ball just would not stop rolling. We received invitations from five more schools from all across India which were asking if they could attend our event. Two National news papers covered the event and wrote articles on the even both before and after the event took place. The Battle of the Bands was an even that was certainly on the lips of everyone in Woodstock, and even on the lips of people miles and miles away in different cities and states.

The event went on for a total of six hours for the audience and the performers. But for those on the committee, it went on for a listless 18 hours, from nine o’clock in the morning to three o’clock at night and then for several days after that for final payments and transactions. It ended in a blur of lights, emotions, sounds, people, and instruments. It went by too fast and ended too soon. Yet, it was one of the most proud moments of my life so far. Where something that I have spent hours and hours trying to develop not only came to life, but succeeded far beyond my wildest hopes. Months and months of organization and countless consecutive days of planning and meeting, every single bit of it, from the hard labor to the promotional trips to other schools, every moment of planning and organizing, fighting and clashing, making up and forgiving, for one day, a few hours of music and entertainment. It was worth it. And I would not hesitate to do it all over again.

890 Words 

SET 3 !!!!!

TOPIC - ANYTHING I WANT!!!!!!!

Post 12 - (Free Writing) Why I Take Risks

      Why I take risks

      It is quite simple really.  There is no deep, overly-intellectual, hidden reason behind why I take risks. There is no ulterior motive that I try to accomplish with taking risks other than trying to get a little excitement, a little thrill, a little twist in this bland world I live in. I believe that life is too short, too fragile because of the fact that it can end at any moment, to live blandly. I believe that in order to live this short life to the fullest, one must experience everything at least once.

      For me, I tried taking a risk once, long ago, and I absolutely loved the feeling I got while I took the risk and after. Because I believe that I have to live a full, exciting life, full of different stories, experiences, and emotions, and the fact that I love the feeling I get from taking risks, the adrenaline rush, the increase in heart rate, the slight fear, and the calm sense of accomplishment afterwards, I take risks.

      When I am at my deathbed, or wherever it is that my life may end I do not know, I want to have no regrets. And this may be awkward coming from a seventeen year old boy but I have given serious thought to death. I can never know for certain what is beyond death and there may be nothing, but right before I die, if I have time, I want to be able to say that I lived an amazing life, and that I have done everything I wanted to, that I have absolutely no regrets with all the things I have done. It is not like a “things to do before I die list” that I have in mind, but more like a feeling of satisfaction, fulfillment, and contentment that I am talking about. That that is why I take risks, to experience as much as I can, to do everything at least once, to not live a bland, colorless life, but an exciting one full of adventures and experiences. All so I can be happy and content before I die, so I can say yes, I’ve had a good life, a full life. 

370 Words

Post 11 - (free writing) Contemplation and Questions)

This blog post is going to be a piece of writing in which I contemplate and question the stigmas of risk taking and possible reasons that those stigmas are now slowly disappearing rather than writing a college essay or news analysis.

For a long time I have wondered why risk-taking is looked down upon in the eyes of adults. It is not as if adults just showed up on the face of this earth; they were once children too who went through what we as teens are going through today. Is it because adults did things in their time that they do not want us experiencing or going through? But how is that fair? Do we as teens not have the right to make our own mistakes or have our own experiences? If they themselves turned out alright, for the most of it, then it should be alright for us to take risks. No? If our parents consumed alcohol at the age of seventeen and got a little drunk at a friend’s party, then why is it not alright for us to experience the same? There is no doubt that teens do not think of the consequences of their actions as well as some adults do. It is also an undisputable fact that some teens to get carried away sometimes and do not realize how risky some of the things they do are. But is completely alienating teens from things such as alcohol and marijuana necessarily a good thing? Won’t it just make teens more curious and cause them to “experiment” with those very things in unsafe conditions?

I think, if adults truly want to help teens not become druggies or alcoholics, they should stop hyping such things up. Constantly reminding, pestering, and threatening kids to stay away from drugs and alcohol, I think, is extremely counter-productive because the biggest effect it has is that it increases the hype and thrill of doing those very things. If such things were to be treated as commonplace, as everyday things, then not only would children not get the thrill of taking a risk (which is what most adults think that kids are after, and which is what most kids are actually after when they do consume drugs) they would also not have that particular incentive to do drugs. For example, if we as a society were to treat drugs the same way we treat a couch, an insignificant household item which no one really pays attention to because no one has ever created a big deal about how amazing their experience of sitting on a couch was, then would we even consider taking the time out of our limited and busy days to waste it on smoking or drinking? The example of alcohol and drugs is just one specific example of how, because of the constant nagging of adults to not do such things, teens get curious and excited and do exactly what the adults told them not to! On a broader scope, if adults really believe that risk taking is all bad (which it is not) then all they have to do is bring down the hype of risk taking by not nagging teen not to take risks.

Another thing that has been at the back of my mind for a while is that why is risk taking, something that can be applied to any and every aspect of life, portrayed via the media as doing drugs, consuming alcohol, and jumping of cliffs? Risk taking is relative to the person taking the risk. One can take academic risks just as much as another can take physical risks. One can grow from academic risks just as much as another can grow from physical risks. So why does the media portray risk taking as such a negative thing? Although recent scientific developments and findings in the field of impulsive behavior and risk taking are slowly breaking the stigma around risk taking, it still seems as though the shift is going rather slowly due to the influence of the media. Furthermore and contrary to popular belief in the minds of most adults, taking risks is not bad for one’s health. Healthy risks can greatly help in the whole development of a growing teen. And yes, going sky-diving and getting up in front of a number people to give a speech are pretty much the same sort of risk depending on the people you talk you.

In conclusion I would just like to state that taking healthy and thought out risks can be extremely rewarding for a growing teen. The sense of accomplishment from overcoming a risk is one of the best feelings a child can experience, especially if the risk meant a great deal to the teen. But if there are particular risks, which there are, that adults really do not want teens to be taking, then all they need to do is stop treating the risk as a risk and start treating it as a common, everyday experience. This would take out the thrill factor of going against the rules and doing something exceptional and kids would not want to take thrill-less risks.

860 Words 

Post 10 - (News Article) "Living On Impulse"

           The article “Living on Impulse” written for the New York Times by Benedict Carey, discusses the implications, reasons, and effects of impulsive behavior for different types of people. The article suggests, with proof from scientific experiments conducted on mice, that the brain, more specifically the prefrontal cortical areas of the brain, plays a major role in an individual’s impulsiveness. The article further contemplates the difference between two hypothetical individuals, in which how one is able to “flirt with regular heroin or cocaine use while finishing an Ivy League degree,” and why the other dies trying. The article suggests that the urges people have, and the “brakes” that people can or cannot apply play a major role in one’s ability to control their Impulses. The article says that, “people who can binge, gamble or try hard drugs and get away with it have a native cunning when it comes to risk,” Such people know how to take risks that bring them the most benefit or pleasure, they know how to take risks without bringing harm to themselves. To accomplish this, they are prepared for the dangers of taking the risks, they are aware that something can go wrong and take precautions accordingly, the article suggests that such people “have goals and are resourceful in pursuing them." Finally, the article also touches upon the fact that each individual is impulsive in his or her own way, it suggests that one’s personal experiences and history can shape one’s impulsiveness. The article does not portray risk-taking as a bad habit or a mental disorder; it hints that risk-taking is a good and beneficial habit if one knows how to be prepared to accomplish the task, and when to stop if the venture seems futile or too dangerous.

            Personally, I was completely trapped in the words of this article. Not only because they meant so much to me personally because they made me understand a bit more about why I am they way I am, but also because it was an extremely well written article that kept up a pattern of suggesting a question to the reader and following it up with an answer. The flow of the article really helped keep my concentration on the words written by the author. The author also consistently backs every claim with either a quote from a credible individual or research from an institute which the author makes sure to name. The author also puts in a concession into the argument by clearly saying that impulsive behavior was thought to be an extremely negative trait in society, but then continues with an even stronger argument in which he states that such misconceptions are now theories of old thanks to all the new scientific development done by researchers in the field of impulsive behavior. Towards the end of the article, the author puts in several statements from different people in which they briefly explain their situation and how they relate to the topic of impulsive behavior.

            The article also helped me greatly understand a few things about risk taking which I was previously unaware of. For example, only after I read in the article that one’s history and personal experiences play a great role in determining the areas of life that an individual is comfortable in taking risks and acting impulsively did I realize that this statement is also true for me. All the experiences I have been through and all of the events in my life have made me who I am today, because of this I am comfortable taking risks in all the area I do take risks. Also, despite the fact that I already knew that the brain and its several functions play an immense role in an individual’s risk-taking behavior, I now know it’s a particular hormone that’s acts upon a particular region of the brain that influences impulsiveness. Although I do not know what I am going to do with that particular piece of information, I am still intrigued by it. But now I know to be more careful with my risk taking. I cannot blindly step into a situation without assessing it. I have to think, and I have to be wise with the risks I take. I have to take a moment to breathe and think of the consequences of all my actions, if I am to take successful risks, before I take them. I do not think that this will be me changing the way I am, because honestly I rather be no one else but the way I am now, but I do think it will be another step for me to becoming more wise and successful in my risk-taking, which can never be a bad thing. I think it is now time for me to start taking risks on a newer level, by this I do not mean bigger risks, I mean smarter risks more likely to be in my favor. 

830 Words

Post 9 - (News Article) "Impulsive Behavior"

                The article “Impulsive Behavior,” written by Jay Zirpoli, attempts to identify the behavior of “impulsive” children. In the article, Zirpoli tries to explore what causes children to act impulsively, and what happens psychologically to such children. The article states that there are four reasons that usually associate with causing children to behave impulsively. They are: urgency, the lack of premeditation, the lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking. The article also states that it has been found that boys are more inclined to act impulsively than girls of the same age because of early biological and physiological growth in girls. It is suggested, by experts referred to in the article, for all parents to consult counselors to make sure that their children do not act impulsively or make rash decisions.

                The article is clearly meant to appeal to conservative adults in the 21^st century who feel that the children of today are becoming overly independent at a very young age. The article almost urges such adults to exert some sort of power over their children to make them realize their “place” in the family. The article consistently works portray risk-taking in a negative light. It makes risk-taking seem like something done by immature, mindless children who might possibly have mental disadvantages. The article consistently brings in examples of negative risk-taking, and how harmful impulsive behavior can be without conceding to the other argument, the positive side of risk-taking behavior. Although, despite the fact that the lack of a concession would make Zirpoli’s argument weaker to those educated in the art of rhetoric, the absence of the positive sides of risk-taking in this argument helps strengthen the beliefs of the conservative, narrow-minded parents this article is meant to manipulate.

                Furthermore, the author of this argument clearly has some misconceptions and facts from non-credible sources which he bases his argument on. The author of this article truly believes that risk-taking and impulsive behavior in children is a sign of mental degradation in children, and that all children that seem to be risk-takers need the assistance of professional help. In simple terms, the author of this article believes that risk-taking behavior in children is a result of a deficiency in self-control and an overpowering urge to seek “pleasure” in the children, a state of mind caused by psychological problems in the children which can only be assessed and cured by going to a shrink. Not only is this false, but it is outrageous that despite all the modern research and progress accomplished and published in trying to understand the science behind adolescent risk-taking, the author would write and publish an article with such primitive beliefs without any attempt to provide proof of where his argument is coming from other than occasionally referring to, possibly fictitious, experts.

                Although this may be a very good argument to manipulate the minds and views of people looking for such an argument, in this case the views and minds of overly-conservative parents who seem to want reason to exert some sort of control over their children by stopping them from taking risks, it is a weak argument in the eyes of more open-minded, educated people who would effortlessly notice the holes in most of the arguments being made by the author. In conclusion, I completely disagree with the information and views portrayed through the article in regards to the reasons and effects of adolescent risk-taking. If it was the author’s motive and goal to manipulate the minds of a larger group of people to concede his point of view, other than people who already think on the same level as him, then, I am sad to say, he has failed miserably.

610 words.