My Silence Has A Voice Too

10. Create a question we haven’t asked and then provide the answer. (Something to that effect anyway. Dartmouth used this a few years ago. I had a student who posed the following question and wrote a seven-page response: “Write about a time when life threw you a curve and how you handled it.” What do you think the world and its people need to do? I think the world needs to stop. Everything around us is moving so fast. “Look at us. Running around, always rushed, always late. I guess that’s why they call it the human race.” – From the movie The Switch. We’re so busy running around, working, playing, dancing, partying, studying or training that we don’t get the time to look at the world. We don’t get the time to appreciate what we have. We don’t get the time to understand what we are doing and let it sink in. Everything is so rushed. Everything is never-ending. The world needs to stop its waste production. The people in it need to stop reproducing. We need to stop...

7. It has been said [by Andy Warhol] that “in the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.” Describe your fifteen minutes. (New York University) My camera is my most important possession. People often say that possessions cannot be as valuable as friends, family, feelings, or other non-materialistic things. I think they’re wrong. To me, my camera has the value of someone’s life. My camera is my third pair of eyes (the second being my spectacles). Without my camera, I would see the world different, I would miss out on so many sights, views, and experiences. I would pass by things without noticing them. My fifteen minutes of fame were the worst of my life. The truth is that the pain of it had been stretched over 2 weeks and the recognition only for those fifteen minutes. I had lost my camera. Having gone back an hour later to find it where I thought I had left it, it was there no more. I went to all the lost and found places I knew of and it was nowhere to be ...

Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen 62. Discuss how something you have read has affected you or changed your mind about something. It was a book I borrowed from an aunt and never returned. From the first time I read Black and Blue , I was strongly affected by the characters in the book (and I read it multiple times). It often brought me to tears. This book can elicit strong emotions from people. Both my mom and I relate to the story. The words ‘Black and Blue’ refer to the bruises Fran, the mother in the book, had. The bruises she got from her abusive husband Bobby. It represents the bruises the little child had. Fran’s ten-year-old-son Robert. The book shows how many women face domestic violence and abuse and don’t have the courage to walk away from the marriage. It also shows how some women love their husbands no matter how they are treated. Fran would never have walked out on her husband if she hadn’t seen the effect it had on her son. How he was such a quiet, well-behaved, and obe...

149. Once you have completed your education, would you return to your hometown to begin your adult life? Why or why not? (William and Mary) My country and my hometown are the reason I want to do psychology. They are the reason for my wanting to become a counselor. I grew up with a nice, happy family. My parents separated and both my brother and I were in complete agreement with the split. My parents haven’t officially gotten a divorce yet, but they’ve unsuccessfully been trying to solve it mutually for the last 4 years. We got lucky. Divorces can get really nasty. They can affect the family drastically. Often the children are worst affected but, as I said, we got lucky. It did take a toll on us at times, but that was to be expected. After this was when I started noticing and making new friends who had broken families. I saw how bad it could get and how much some of them were struggling. I thank my stars every night for taking it easy on me. Not that I mean to insult an...

163. What is your favorite word, and why? (University of Virginia) My favorite word is eccentric. The word eccentric defines the person I hope I am, or at least the person I want to be as a whole. I know some people consider eccentricity to be unusual behavior and they often discourage such behavior. To me, eccentric means to be free and act and say what you truly feel, without being afraid of acceptance. No. Wait. My favorite word is acceptance. It defines what most people seem to want in this world. Most people want to be accepted by others. No. I take that back. My favorite word is kaleidoscope. It describes what this world really is. It describes the confusion of life, the big crowds, the obstacles, the barriers, the pain, and the happiness. It describes the variety one faces. No. I think I like the word abstract better. Thinking out of the box. Being creative. Abstractness can be brought out in anything: dance, art, music, thinking, ideas, writing. Maybe my favorite word...

165. What confuses you most in life, and why? (University of Virginia) There are many things in this world that confuse me. I really couldn’t choose one. The whole idea behind life seems to be to confuse and complicate people’s lives. Relationships between supposed “best friends” confuse me. One day they’re all over each other saying they don’t trust anyone more than the other. Then the next day, they have a tiny little scrap and they suddenly reveal everything sacred about the other. Parents confuse me. They spend the first half of our childhood trying to teach us how to talk and then second half telling us to “Shut up!” Parents confuse me all the time. If I do something to annoy them, they tell me to grow up, if I try acting grown up and shock them, they tell me to act my age. You can never win! Some teachers (I’m not taking names) confuse me too. They get mad if you speak up and give an incorrect answer and then they get mad if you don’t speak up. Which we avoid ...

174. If money and family obligations left you entirely free, how and where would you spend the summer before college? Ever since the first time I went to visit my father’s friends in Corbett, I have always loved the place. The friends spoken of own a camp called ‘Forktail Creek’ which is in the midst of the forest, now has four dogs on the campsite, and a beautiful bonfire. Every night, different people from different places in the world, staying there, sit around this bonfire having the oddest of conversations under the star-lit sky. The first time I went there, I was six, I was bald, and the only thing I paid attention to the entire week was the 2 dogs there at the time. The two beautiful Butiyas, the local mountain dogs. The previous time I went there, there were four grown dogs and 4 puppies at on camp. Though it was the first time I saw a tiger in the wild, I had 3 pictures of the tiger and 348 of the dogs on camp. That camp has always been a retreat for me. I als...

34. Describe your hometown and how you are a product of this environment. (Puget Sound) I am originally from Kannur, a town in Kerala, but I have lived in the NCR (National Capital Region) for the majority of my life. I lived in Delhi for the first 6 years of my life and in Gurgaon for the next 10. Delhi/Gurgaon feels more like my hometown to me than Kerala ever has since I have never lived there. Even though I have moved to Mussoorie, and I feel more at home here with my mom, the place I’ll always want to go back to is Delhi/Gurgaon Delhi and Gurgaon have people from all over India living there. (There are people foreign to India as well, but that’s not specific to the NCR.) Throughout my school life up till 10 th grade, I’ve mixed with people from different religions, castes, age groups, states, and even nationalities. I have never had trouble getting along with people and my background is responsible for that. I’m open to meeting and interacting with different peop...

32. Sartre said, “Hell is other people,” while Streisand sang, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” With whom do you agree? (Amherst) I strongly disagree with Sartre. I agree more with Streisand’s view that “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”  I don’t need people as such, but I am much happier in the company of other people. In a sense then, I guess I indirectly need people to be happy. I’m always finding new people to meet. I always want to know who someone is. Each person is different, and each person has some really different, fascinating characteristics. I’ve learned to like people for what they do have instead of disliking them for what they don’t have. If “Hell is other people” (Sartre) then put me on the list because that’s where I want to go. Sometimes you can have the best of conversations with what seems like the worst of the people. For example, my English teacher is the best as well...

155. According to Stephen Carter, we can admire those with integrity even if we disagree with them. Are there people you admire even though you deeply disagree with them? What do you admire about them? How do you reconcile this apparent contradiction in your assessment? (Duke University)   There are many people on the face of this planet that I admire. Some are young ones who work so hard, some are older ones who have faced many hardships and come out strong. One is my mom. I have learnt a great deal from the strength she shows. We often have disagreements, but I never fail to admire her and think highly of her. Another person I admire is my English teacher. The very same one who is behind my daily blog posts and the reason for my sleep deprived state. I curse him every time I receive a grade or get an assignment back from him. Yet, every time he gives us an assignment, I love the topics he chooses, and the ideas he uses to teach us. Mostly, I am fascinated by the ...

186. Jogging has become extremely popular. Explain why you jog or why you don't. I used to hate jogging, running, or any form of exercise if it wasn’t to do with playing basketball. I didn’t mind walking. Walking was always a peaceful retreat for me. I walked if I was angry, I walked if I was happy, I had to walk if I was on the phone (I just couldn’t sit still), and most of the time I had music on while walking. Sometimes if it was too late to walk outside, I would pace up and down the small area within my room. Jogging though, was not my cup of tea. I used to detest it even while warming up before basketball practice. Then, one winter, I discovered the beauty of training in the cold. The satisfaction of having a t-shirt dripping with sweat when you’re facing temperatures that cold. When other people around you are freezing under 4-5 layers of clothing and you can just stand there in one flimsy jersey. I know to most it probably sounds quite gross because I used to feel th...

143. First experiences can be defining. Cite a first experience that you have had and explain its impact on you. (University of Pennsylvania) I’ve acted in plays before. I’ve sung in choirs before. I’ve danced on stage before. Never in my life had I done all three together, until the day I decided that I didn’t want to audition for Brigadoon – our fall production. I had decided on signing up for the stage crew or props crew, and told myself I would audition next year or next semester when I was better adjusted to the school. That is when my all-time-favorite friends came into the picture. Both sat by either side of me and, with various different points, worked at persuading me to try out. I was adamant at first, saying, “I have too much on my plate already” or “I can’t dance anyway, so what’s the point?” They probably didn’t hear a word I said and tried to convince me by saying that there was no harm in trying. So I changed my mind and decided to try out just for the sake ...

141. In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose a question of your own. If your prompt is original and thoughtful, then you should have little trouble writing a great essay. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun. (U of Chicago) Why are languages so odd? Haven’t you ever wondered why things are named what they are? To the people who created them, or heard them for the first time, they must have just been gibberish. Imagine having to come up with a whole bunch of gibberish and putting it all together to make sense! Sometimes I say a word and it just doesn’t sound right, and I’ll sit wondering how it came to be known as what it’s called. In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? We have noses that run and feet that smell! There are neither eggs in an...

3. What is the best advice you ever received? Why? And did you follow it? (University of Pennsylvania) The best advice I ever received was to “take control of my own life,” and I did. I was in the midst of divorcing parents and was being shipped from one house to the next every now and then. They wanted to settle by mutual consent, but nothing seemed mutual about it, and my brother and I were being dragged through it. So while talking to a close, almost motherly figure in my life, she advised me to do the above, and not let my parents’ actions affect my life and my choices. Listening to her was the best decision I made at that point. I disregarded everything my parents had between them and decided to do what was best for me, and my future. If I didn’t make the right decision now, then I would suffer for the rest of my life. This is when I decided on changing schools and moving to Woodstock School was the best option for me. Living with my father, I wasn’t able to move aroun...

2. Imagine that you have the opportunity to travel back through time. At what point in history would you like to stop and why? (Swarthmore) “If I had the choice of going back in time, I would go back to a time before the wheel.” (“ The Hub Of All Inventions ” by SilentVoice)*  Before mass deforestation, before modern civilization, and maybe even further back to before man became the dominant species.  Back to a time when the world was covered by forests and other forms of plant-covered land. When all one could see around us was a green sheet of plants, and upon closer inspection, the various colors of plants, fruits, birds, and other exotic animals. A time when survival was tough, but life was simple, without the stress of work, the pressures of society, and the complicated relationships. When peace and time were easy to find. Living in such a time would have its own stressful situations, as there would be many more predators for us to protect ourselves against, and less sh...

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) During the summer, I took on an internship with a paper recycling company called Kalyanmayee. The project is a women’s initiative run by the wives – or female employees – of AAI (Airport Authority of India) officials. When Terminal 3 was built, it displaced many people who lost their homes and means of living. This is when AAI decided to bring about Kalyanmayee and employed people from the displaced settlements. On interviewing the employees we found out that they were all from different backgrounds; some being sweepers, barbers, and cooks. They were all then trained in different fields of the factory with men abundantly working on the recycling process itself and the women on making products (like folders, coasters, cards, picture frames, diaries, carry bags, gift tags) out of the paper they recycled. Our role in the internship was to adv...

21. If you had the gift of telepathy, the ability to read other people’s minds, would you use this gift or not? Explain. (Middle East Technical University/93) Having the gift of telepathy is a great privilege, but I wouldn’t want to know everyone’s thoughts all the time. If I could read everyone’s minds, it would make life and conversation dull. People would seem uninteresting to me because I would already know what they are thinking and everyone would lose the touch of mystery that makes one want to get to know someone else. Telepathy is an invasion of one’s privacy. I wouldn’t want others reading my thoughts and I wouldn’t treat others any different from how I would want to be treated. If I had the ability to read minds, others’ thoughts around me would probably overwhelm me and I may not be able to hear my own self thinking. I do know that I often wish I could read someone’s mind, but it’s the inability to do so that makes it so intriguing. If I could read peo...

18.  What invention would the world be better off without, and why? (Kalamazoo) The wheel was a basic invention that led to the invention of many greater things which, in turn, led to the modern lives we live today. "Without the wheel, the world simply wouldn't exist as we know it." ( Angela Harris ) From tiny watch gears to automobiles, jet engines and computer disk drives, the wheel is the root component. The world would have been better off without this invention because if it weren't for the wheel, we wouldn't be in the environmental crisis we are presently in. If it weren’t for the invention of the wheel, we would probably still be living in beautiful forests with great weather and a controlled population. If it weren’t for the wheel, life would be so much simpler. If it weren’t for all the inventions triggered by the invention of the wheel, there would be no war. No war because people would be few and their demands for land and resources would be less. Th...

19. Write you own essay question and answer it. (Kalamazoo College/93) Q. What is one hobby, interest, field that you are passionate about? I have always been attached to music; always needed it more than anything else. I have been listening to music since before I was born. While I was in my mother's womb, my father used to play his favorites by John Denver, The Beatles, Elvis, ABBA, songs like "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Bikini" and some of my mother's favorites too. With parents as music lovers, I grew up with a wide variety of music, and often come across people older than me who asked, "How in the world do you know that song?" Being that big of a music lover, I always wanted to learn how to play an instrument, but was never able to. My parents couldn't afford to buy me an instrument. Music lessons were entirely out of the picture. This left me with one option - Vocals. I never took lessons, but I was always found humming or singing a tune - if ...

29. Tell us about a conversation you’ve had that changed your perspective or was otherwise meaningful to you. (Stanford) This poem describes a conversation I had with myself a few years back, whilst pondering over why love seemed so over-rated. Yes, I repeat, I had a conversation with myself. You may call me crazy (more like schizophrenic), but I was in deep thought and speaking out loud helps me think clearer sometimes. Love's Spell I was laying in your arms Thinking about us Thinking about love And why the big fuss? Why is love so overrated? Why does everyone say its so great? I mean sure, sometimes it feels amazing, But other time love turns to hate. There's nothing perfect about it, Then why do they say it is? Give us these fairy tale ideas And fill our dreams with bliss. It shoots up our expectations, So when the real thing comes We're all disappointed And that love-filled heart numbs. We didn't get out fairy tale So we dont feel the love ...

112.  Evaluate a significant experience, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. As it is, switching from an Indian School to an International school is a great task. Doing so when I knew I would have to switch back to an Indian college later was out of the question! I would first have to get used to an International System and then re-learn what I un-learned 2 years ago. Coming to Woodstock School was the biggest risk I could have taken. The exams only amount to twenty percent of the final grade you receive. They grades you get are based on your assignments with every hour late affecting your grade and to top it all off you have so many assignments to do. All this is a stark contrast to how most Indian schools work where the exams amount to 80% of your grade. Turning in an assignment 3 days late often has no consequences and longer than that would probably reduce your marks by a maximum of 1-2 points. The best part being that ...

28. Attach a small photograph of something important to you and explain its significance. (Stanford) It is not what is in the picture, but the picture itself that is very important to me. It is significant because this was the first time that I took a picture and was proud of the turnout. This was soon after I had been given a camera for my birthday. My father noticed that I had gained a certain interest in photography, as I often asked to borrow his camera. Seeing this, he decided to encourage my inclination towards photography by gifting me one. This shot was taken while I was still in the experimental stage with my camera. I had no idea what I was doing or what I was trying to do. I was just playing around with different features and trying to understand how they worked. This picture is more significant than others because this was the time I started believing in myself as a photographer. I had discovered a while (more than 2 years) ago that I was inte...