choreographing, creating poses, teaching, and polishing are all worthwhile, and the stage
becomes my home.
Set temperature. Calibrate. Integrate. Analyze. Set temperature. Calibrate. Integrate. Analyze.
This pulse mimics the beating of my heart, a subtle rhythm that persists each day I come into the
lab. Whether I am working under the fume hood with platinum nanoparticles, manipulating raw
integration data, or spraying a thin platinum film over pieces of copper, it is in Lab 304 in
Hudson Hall that I first feel the distinct sensation, and I’m home. After spending several weeks
attempting to synthesize platinum nanoparticles with a diameter between 10 and 16 nm, I finally
achieve nanoparticles with a diameter of 14.6 nm after carefully monitoring the sulfuric acid
bath. That unmistakable tingling sensation dances up my arm as I scribble into my notebook: I
am overcome with a feeling of unbridled joy.
Styled in a t-shirt, shorts, and a worn, dark green lanyard, I sprint across the quad from the
elective ‘Speaking Arabic through the Rassias Method’ to ‘Knitting Nirvana’. This afternoon is
just one of many at Governor’s School East, where I have been transformed from a high school
student into a philosopher, a thinker, and an avid learner. While I attend GS at Meredith College
for Natural Science, the lessons learned and experiences gained extend far beyond physics
concepts, serial dilutions, and toxicity. I learn to trust myself to have difficult yet necessary
conversations about the political and economic climate. Governor’s School breeds a culture of
inclusivity and multidimensionality, and I am transformed from “girl who is hardworking” or
“science girl” to someone who indulges in the sciences, debates about psychology and the
economy, and loves to swing and salsa dance. As I form a slip knot and cast on, I’m at home.
My home is a dynamic and eclectic entity. Although I’ve lived in the same house in Cary, North
Carolina for 10 years, I have found and carved homes and communities that are filled with and
enriched by tradition, artists, researchers, and intellectuals. While I may not always live within a
5 mile radius of a Bojangle’s or in close proximity to Lab 304, learning to become a more
perceptive daughter and sister, to share the beauty of my heritage, and to take risks and redefine
scientific and personal expectations will continue to impact my sense of home.
Common App Essay Example #2
Easter
It was Easter and we should’ve been celebrating with our family, but my father had locked us in
the house. If he wasn’t going out, neither were my mother and I.
My mother came to the U.S. from Mexico to study English. She’d been an exceptional student
and had a bright future ahead of her. But she fell in love and eloped with the man that eventually
became my father. He loved her in an unhealthy way, and was both physically and verbally
abusive. My mother lacked the courage to start over so she stayed with him and slowly let go of
her dreams and aspirations. But she wouldn’t allow for the same to happen to me.
