Lewis and Clark College

Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family Getting to work at ten in the morning to go stand in what I charitably referred to as the Hut for eight hour stretches was probably not how most people envisioned their summer … Read more Amusement Park Lessons

Describe a location that has shaped you. My legs are dotted with faded scars left behind by mosquito bites. Sitting in a stuffy classroom in early September, I look down at them nostalgically. In June, my feelings towards mosquito bites were less cordial. I had just begun a 45-day backpacking trip in the Brooks Mountain … Read more Bug Bites

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.. I believe in hiking boots. Stiff, clunky and unapologetically dorky, preferably made of waterproof leather. Neat rows of hiking boots line the back wall of REI. … Read more Breaking In

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. I was confused when I saw “85%” scrawled in red ink on my eighth-grade algebra worksheet despite all of the answers being correct. Underlined at the … Read more In the Margin

Lewis and Clark College is a private college with a public conscience and a global reach. We celebrate our strengths in collaborative scholarship, international engagement, environmental understanding and entrepreneurial thinking. As we evaluate applications, we look for students who understand what we offer and are eager to contribute to our community. In one paragraph, please … Read more Lewis and Clark Supplement

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 I sat on the piano bench, leather sticky where shorts ended and legs began, and all I could think was, “No, please … Read more The Piano

Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. Two days after leaving home this past June, I stood alone amidst thousands of people, not knowing a single one. I heard no English, saw no familiar sights, and was caught up in … Read more Adulthood at 12,000 Feet

Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. I was practically born on the river. Both of my parents were extreme whitewater raft guides, and they passed on their … Read more The Outdoors and Life

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. When I was seven I had my first crush. I remember the numerous sleepovers where I would be asked to divulge such a secret, with the stereotypical “so who do you like Dana?” I’d … Read more Coming Out

“Some questions cannot be answered./ They become familiar weights in the hand,/ Round stones pulled from the pocket, unyielding and cool.” –Jane Hirshfield, poet, Princeton Class of 1973 It was to my temporary Italian address that a package arrived in mid-November. Even though it had been only a couple of months, I had yearned for … Read more The Strange and The Familiar