Indiana University

The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? It was an ideal day for a wedding. The sun was shining and was seventy degrees on top of one of … Read more Dealing with Failure in the Floral Business

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. Taking my spot in the third seat, I face the coxswain as she commands our boat. As we push off the dock, adrenaline … Read more Fingerprints

Common application “What make you, you?” “On Thursday,” announced my religion teacher, “we will be going to the zoo to find our animal totems.” For those that don’t know, an animal totem represents the Native American belief that each person has a connection to a specific animal. I was excited to begin my search, and … Read more Finding Your Animal Totem

Common Application – Free response question June 4th 20065:50amThe volunteers in the red shirts direct us to enter our corrals. It’s race time. Twenty-three thousand of us cram into our assigned areas and stand shoulder-to-shoulder, no room to move. I know what lies in wait—fifty-four thousand steps, or twenty-six and two tenths miles. It is … Read more Willow Tree

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? My choir director points at me, whispering, “You’re next.” Those daunting words make me falter back to … Read more Last Place…?

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. There are times when I gaze out of the windows of the South Shore Train and see nothing more than the softened edges … Read more More Than a Reflection

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. Anyone can find beauty in ordinary things: the ivory snow falling outside a foggy window on a January morning, the rainbow that appears … Read more Beauty

Name an obstacle you overcame. I’ll always remember that drive; there was a crisp summer breeze sailing in through my window and the taste of early-morning dew still hung in the air. My heart was beating so fast, I could hardly hear my favorite song, “Sweet Caroline”, blasting on the radio. I rounded the corner … Read more Only Time Will Tell

Write about an experience that, although unexpected or even unpleasant, has helped shape you into the person you are today. As is the case with many twelve-year-old sixth graders, I used to be a little self-centered. I was in the middle of puberty, with hormones raging and jumbling my mind in all kinds of ways, … Read more Nine Mile