University of California, Berkeley Application Essays

I want to change the cynical, bitter stigma attached to politics. Many only see corruption and greedy lobbying, but politics is my outlet to solve the growing problems of our modern world. Nothing else has the potential to affect the lives of every single human…

“Lemonade! Twenty-five cents a cup!” Some say that our earliest memories are indicative of our later years. Sometimes I wonder if I was born to sell. My earliest memory dates back fourteen years, when I opened a lemonade stand outside a neighborhood garage sale. With…

Light brown autumn leaves blew swiftly across the cracked sidewalk that outlines my oldest brother Lance’s house. I stood silently there and stared at him walking down the street, his two year old son Luke trotting at his side. The sun was orange and shined…

Each summer, I work as a high ropes counselor for middle school students. My goal: to push campers out of their comfort zones and into the “growth” zone. Yet that goal isn’t always easy to reach. I had one camper named Aldo who was absolutely…

My hand on the bar holds all my weight as my foot clumsily finds fifth position from fourth, while transitioning from relevé to plié. I struggle to remember tendu from bourree, then fall behind, as the rest of the class is executing the sequence with…

The girl with a locker next to mine begins to ask about the math homework, and then stops herself. “Oh wait. You’re a PRISM kid.” PRISM. Synonymous with over-achievement, arrogance, seclusion, perfectionism, but above all: expectations. I’m fortunate to have grown up in Bellevue, where…

My world has been exciting and supportive for all my pursuits in life, but I’m most thankful for how it has exposed me to science and welcomed me into research. Ever since my first encounter with science, I’ve been developing a grand theory in my…

Presenting in the Kentucky senate chamber as a twelve-year old can be intimidating, but also relieving. You have been told for a dozen years that you are too young to influence your state’s government, yet you stand at a podium with a microphone to your…

In the classic Greek epic, ‘The Odyssey,’ Homer idealizes Odysseus for portraying two attributes: physical and intellectual strength. These are the two qualities that help the protagonist on his difficult journey. Greek society is similar to the society at the Army and Navy Academy, as…

“I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” (Jack Nicholson – The Departed) When I was a child, my best friend was (wait for it) a stick. It became an extension of my…