On a humid day in June, I landed in Boston, feeling tense. I was away from home, away from my family. I was scared. I… Read More
College Essay: Raising my voice and gaining confidence
Tag Archives: College Essay
College Essay: ‘Wherever you come from does not define you’
When I tell people I live in north Minneapolis, their eyes often get wide. I get it. Drive-by shootings, poverty and drugs surround my block,… Read More
College Essay: Honoring a father and his legacy
I hate the smell of hospitals. The pungent, sterile odor of the place where some people go to die takes me back to the year… Read More
College Essay: Choosing the right path
If I hadn’t moved away from Gary, Indiana, I would be in a juvenile facility or possibly pregnant. Growing up with my mom and older… Read More
College Essay: On a mission to help others
I am lying on the playground, looking up at the other kids like they are giants. One kid keeps kicking me in the stomach. Fifth… Read More
College Essay: A stand-in parent
My arms screamed in protest, crying mutiny against my mind even as screams, loud and physical, erupted from my youngest sister. At 2 years old,… Read More
College Essay: A Mexican education system teaches a valuable lesson
When I arrived in Mexico City from my home, Minnesota, two years ago, I was petrified when I saw a place that looked hopeless. No… Read More
College Essay: Full speed ahead
Bang! The gun goes off! I thrust out of the starting blocks with full force and accelerate forward. As I run, my breaths become shallow,… Read More
College Essay: ‘Changing the world, one girl at a time’
When Hooyo (“Mother” in Somali) picked me up from school in our Ethiopian refugee camp, we’d walk the long way home so people wouldn’t know… Read More
College Essay: Overcoming homelessness
Homelessness can happen to anyone. I know because I experienced it. One day in fifth grade, my parents sat my siblings and me down together… Read More
