*** = have to write on vacay

@@@ = need ma to check over (already written)

$$ = need to finish up/fix up

^^ = use from another essay

BROWN REQUIREMENTS:

1. Why are you drawn to the area(s) of study you indicated? (300 character max.)

@@@ My love for languages and cultures and my desire to work towards worldwide reform is what draws me to an International Relations program that is designed to combine these two mediums to create a global movement towards positive change.

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2. A distinctive feature of the brown curriculum is the opportunity to
be the "architect of your education." why does this academic
environment appeal to you? (700 character max.)
@@@ Breaking out of a locked core curriculum will allow me to apply my individuality to the places I know will be most beneficial to the world. Being an active student in designing my education will allow my leadership skills to prosper, so that I may apply them to other aspects of my life as well. Knowing myself better than anyone else, I recognize the unique aspects of myself that will be most advantageous to others in the future. Building up these distinct features that define me, will help me define the world and reach my highest potential.

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3. Tell us where you have lived and for how long since you were born; whether you’ve always lived in the same place, or perhaps in a variety of places. (300 character max.)

@@@ I have lived in a vibrant city in the same residence for all of my life. A whopping 17 years! Most here are affiliated with the military, a surprising fact in a town visited for its sunny beaches. The crime rate is low and the cultural opportunities are high. I love my hometown...Virginia Beach!

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4. Complete this thought.... if I could do something with no risk of
failing, I would.... (200 character max.)
@@@ I’d learn all languages spoken today so I could travel to each corner and crevice of the earth and teach the gospel to all who may hear so that they too can learn of life, love, and hope in Christ.

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5. What is something you created that makes you especially proud, and

why? (700 charac. mx.)

@@@ Humankind is the most beautiful creation, and I am blessed to have been designed as such. With the opportunities I have been given, I have used them to fashion a unique and irreplaceable student fervent in using her abilities to service others, and I am most proud of this. Delighted in the person I formed myself to be, it pleases me more to know I can continue to construct who I am for the future. Just as humankind was created and then asked to produce after its conception, I was conceived, my inner being molded, and continue to hold the privilege of shaping who I will become.

6. We all exist within communities or groups of various sizes, origins, and purposes; pick one and tell us why it is important to you, and how it has shaped you. (1000 charac. Max.)

$$ The ignorance of global affairs in my hometown was slim. Most were affiliated with the military, a diverse people coming from across the country and oceans. The variety provided in the population of my hometown is what shaped my character and global opinions into what they are today. Those I became friends with were open to other beliefs; stimulating me and my perspectives on the world around me. In addition to going to see movies and hanging out at the beach, my friends and I would volunteer for the community; it became an activity just as seeing a movie was something enjoyable to do with friends. The global awareness developed from living in our hometown influenced who we became. In conjunction, my family’s religion played a major role in shaping each of us into the globally aware people we are. My beliefs worked hard in molding my views and principles and continued to push me towards the acceptance of the diversity in my city and the desire to learn about it. The elements of the surrounding community as well as the features of the family I grew up with, served to be the most important factors in molding my character and international cognizance.

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7. $$ What question could we ask to gain the most insight into you? what

is your answer? (2000 charac. max.)

An insightful question to ask would be “How would you make a difference in the world with your Brown education?” Armed with a top-notch education in International Relations, I plan to provide solutions to global issues by resolving the roots instead of just placating the effects. Such as the starvation ofHaiti, I’d repair its corrupt government as opposed to focusing simply on the symptoms of hunger caused by the corruption.

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ALL COMMONAPP REQUIREMENTS:

Short Answer

$$ Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below (1000 character maximum).

At first, I was reluctant to tutor 11 year old Frances; I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to help her with subjects I had learned so long ago. But as the days of tutoring continued, I realized that what she needed more than learning the fundamentals was a boosted confidence level and raised self-esteem. With her mother moving out of the house due to her parents’ separation, I knew that what she really needed was a strong mother figure to bring her back up to where she needed to be. In tutoring her, I became that friendly mother type of teacher, and I watched her gain self-assurance as well as understanding in her school subjects. In all that she learned from me, Frances ended up teaching me a valuable lesson. This wonderful little girl taught me that just a little bit of kindness and compassion, and giving of one’s time, can make a world of a difference in another’s life. Even at the young age of 17, I have the power to make a difference in someone else’s life.

Personal Essay

*** Please write an essay (250-500 words) on a topic of your choice or on one of the options listed below. This personal essay helps us to become acquainted with you as a person and student, apart from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will also demonstrate your ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself.
Note: Your Common Application essay should be the same for all colleges. Do not customize it in any way for individual colleges. Colleges that want customized essay responses will ask for them on a supplement form.

Please indicate your topic by checking the appropriate button below.

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
Topic of your choice.

TUFT’S ESSAY REQUIREMENTS:

1. Which aspects of Tufts’ curriculum or undergraduate experience prompt your application? In short: “Why Tufts?” (50-100 words)

@@@ The basis of which the curriculum of Tufts’ International Relations major stands on is the part of Tufts that originally drew my attention. Calling for leaders in public service, this portion of Tufts’ IR major indicates the importance of global stewardship, something that is tremendously important to me. To reach out globally to others in the most effective way, an understanding of culture as well as a proficiency in the target language is imperative. Tufts demonstrates that they also place these things on the same levels of importance as do I.

2. There is a Quaker saying: “Let your life speak.” Describe the environment in which you were raised—your family, home, neighborhood or community—and how it influenced the person you are today. (200-250 words)

@@@ In Virginia Beach, I grew up surrounded by military families. Because of its proximity to Norfolk and the many naval bases located both in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, the majority of the people I met were affiliated with the military. That being said, they were diverse people, coming from across the country and some from across the oceans. The variety provided in the population of my hometown is what shaped my character and global opinions into what they are today. The ignorance of global affairs in my hometown was slim. The children I became friends with were open to other beliefs; stimulating me and my perspectives on the world around me. In addition to going to see movies and hanging out at the beach, my friends and I would do volunteer work for the community; it became an activity just as seeing a movie was something enjoyable to do with friends. The global awareness developed from living in our hometown influenced who we became. In conjunction, my family’s religion played a major role in shaping each of us into the globally aware people we are. My beliefs worked hard in molding my views and principles and continued to push me towards the acceptance of the diversity in my city and the desire to learn about it. The elements of the surrounding community as well as the features of the family I grew up with, served to be the most important factors in molding my character and international cognizance.

3. *** For the second short response we asked you to consider the world around you. Now, consider the world within. Taste in music, food and clothing can make a statement while politics, sports, religion and ethnicity are often defining attributes. Are you a vegetarian? A poet? Do you prefer You Tube or test tubes, Mac or PC? Are you the drummer in an all-girl rock band? Do you tinker? Use the richness of your identity to frame your personal outlook. (200-250 words)

OPTIONAL RESPONSE

Think outside the box when you answer the following questions. Take a risk and go somewhere unexpected. Be serious if the moment calls for it but feel comfortable being playful if that suits you, too. We invite you to choose one of these topics and prepare an essay of 250 to 500 words. (And this section really is optional!)
1. Science, math, and society are filled with postulates, laws, and theories like the Ninth Commandment, PV=nRT, Occam’s Razor, and H.R. 3541. Warm air rises. Good (English) grammar requires “i” before “e” except after “c.” So pick a law, any law, and explain its significance to you.

@@@ Love is the most powerful emotion that a human being possesses. With every word, every action, and every breath, a person chooses whether or not to show love. It is what each human strives for, and each thirsts to show the love inside of them. It is difficult to show one another love; and the challenge that Jesus calls His people to in Matthew 22:39 calls us to love one another anyway. It asks that every moment His people spend on the earth, that they show the love inside of themselves. When asked which commandment is the greatest, Jesus replies with the first commandment that all shall “love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt.22:38). He then adds onto this great commandment and humbly states “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. These are the greatest commandments, to handle the gift of love in the way that it was intended to be held. The laws of love were designed that it may be given freely to others and to God. Jesus’ desire for His people to share love with one another is what propels my actions towards helping others. His call for love is a call to serve others, and answering His call, I am dedicated to doing so with an education based on service and understanding of others. With this most humble instruction, I am steadfast in an education intended to benefit the world.

JMU ESSAY JUST IN CASE:

Many students will admit that the main reason they are attending university is so that they can get “better jobs” meaning “make more money”. I’m going to university so that I can get a “better job”, too, but for me that means a job where I can improve the lives of others. This is not a current or recent decision for me.

My desire to work in third world countries for the benefit of others has been the driving force for my educational choices since middle school. Choosing to take Spanish in my seventh and eighth grade years, I decided to continue my languages studies at the Global Studies and World Languages Academy. Here, I fell in love with language and culture. I learned the importance of understanding other cultures in order to be able to give all that I can of myself to the needs of others in foreign countries. Now my sixth year of Spanish and my second year of Arabic, I am working extremely hard in the subjects that I love, striving for the next step in becoming a humanitarian. Starting in seventh grade to work toward achieving this goal, I am now in the final stretch of my academic years of high school. I am almost done with this step towards reaching my ambition, and I feel that continuing my studies at James Madison University is the next step,

The extensive Arabic program offered at JMU excites me. Since I would love to work abroad as a humanitarian across the Arabian Peninsula and surrounding countries, attending the Arabic program at JMU is a high priority to me. In connection with the program in the US, the Arab Study Abroad programs offered by JMU at institutions in the Arab world will offer valuable insight on what it’s like to work abroad (whether it be in humanitarian efforts or through study). In addition, the International Affairs program at JMU will enhance my cultural and political knowledge, so that studying/working abroad may be done well with as much knowledge about the country and its people as possible.

Continuing my studies of the Spanish language and Culture at JMU as well, I hope to learn about Latin American culture and society so that I may be able to use my knowledge as an altruistic student of JMU to offer aid to those Latin American societies in need. I want to “Be the Change.”

In the end, attending university isn’t about “making more money” and therefore receiving the “better job”. Attending a university such as JMU for me is the next step in reaching out to those in need, with the necessary knowledge to do so. To me, this is the “better job”.

MELODY A SARNO (487)

2011-11-30

Virginia Beach City Public Schools