Another goodbye...

Today was another day of goodbyes. I've said goodbyes to so many people that now I find saying goodbye just another part of life. But I wonder why it gets harder every time. Maybe today's graduates were just one of my favorite classes. Maybe I learnt over the years that I miss people after goodbyes. But... Maybe... just maybe it was so hard to say goodbye today because I knew each one of them personally.

I was late for the graduation ceremony due to my SAT subject exams. As soon as the exams were over, I headed towards the gym where the soon-to-be graduates were seated, listening to Valedictorian's speech. Each one of them looked so smart, clothed in manly suits and sarees of beautiful colors. Looking at them altogether as one group, I realized that I was going to miss this bunch a lot. Priyankar, as a Valedictorian, said in his speech that life is all about beginning and end. I couldn't think of any way to deny that as a fact. Beginning and end.. The Class of 2012 is now done with high school and will soon experience the adventures of College life. Some of those graduates told me that they're going through a mix of feelings.. sadness, happiness, excitement... Seeing them throw the programme papers into the air with the roar of their class name, I thought, "yeah.. they're leaving... And I'm going to be in that place in a year."

Coming down the ramp was the hardest part as always. Saying goodbye to each one of them.. I walked slowly in the crowd and watched some of them cry, some of them hug their beloveds, and some of them smile, showing that they are ready to carry on with their lives.  Half way through, I was completely fine. But slowly, when I could see the end of the ramp, my eyes started watering. The end was drawing near. My last chance to say goodbyes to them would end when the ramp gets over, and they would leave this place to join bigger rivers and ocean. When I saw my music buddies, I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks. This class had so many talent musicians with whom I played instruments together and enjoyed music, discussing the fun in the pieces. I know that I will miss all of that a lot.

When I was busy crying, a random kid came upto me. He stared at me giving weird faces. "Are you even part of 12th grade?" He asked. Unable to stop crying, I shook my head sideways as to respond to his question. "Then, why are you crying?" he questioned in such a tone that I laughed. "I don't know" I replied with tears still rolling down my cheeks but with a smile on my face. I'm sure I would have looked like a retard laughing and crying at the same time. But thanks to that kid (though he didn't really intend to help me), I felt much better.

People will leave, but I'll encounter new people like this kid. I do not know his name, and I will probably not see him again because he must have one of the graduates' relatives. However, I won't be able to forget the comfort I got from that kid. He made me laugh, and my heart felt much lighter.

And.. I won't be able to forget the fun, laughter, happiness, and friendship I shared with each one of you, Class of 2012. Will miss you loads. No matter what, I will cherish the memories with you. And sometime in life, I'll be ready to meet you as a better person.

But for now.. Goodbye Sapere Aude.. :)

Different perspectives - our special ability

Central Argument: We like things more because of the psychological thoughts in us about what we are doing than because of the physical features.

Unlike other organisms, we humans have this ability to think. It’s fascinating how our thoughts can determine what we want, like, and so on. Sometimes, we tend to like things not because of the physical appearances or surface characteristics but because we simply like the logic or abstract such as pathos behind them. In the article, Why We Like What We Like, Alva Noë talks about how our minds and thoughts are the true factors that make us like any particular thing. And the more I experience, I feel this is true. We like things because we perceive things in certain ways.

One experience that really made me agree to this idea of liking things because of what we are doing was the one at orphanage. The kids seemed dirty whether they were well-dressed or not. They just looked different. On the surface, they might not seem to be those kids who I can hang around together naturally. However, once I started playing with them, I started liking them. They were such cute, little innocent kids I have ever met in my entire life. In the end, I even hugged them when saying goodbye. When I look at the pictures, I still find them very poor and dirty on the outer appearance, something that I’m not very fond of, but because the pictures remind me what I did with them, I smile and miss those times I spent with those lovely kids.

My first boyfriend was the one who made me realize even more that thoughts about what we are doing really determine what we like. Just the fact that I am with him, that I can talk to him… that I can smile, eat, and walk with him made me like the person him. Maintaining long-distance relationship, we couldn’t really spend time together at one place; but when I got a phone call from him, I was happy more than any other time of the day. On the surface, it’s just merely a phone call. However, because of the thought that I will be hearing my beloved’s voice and listen to his day stories, I get excited and I like to get phone calls.

Another example to prove the psychological impact of our likings is the story of my cousin sister. She hates capsicum. She will never eat anything if there’s a tiny little piece of capsicum put into her plate. One day, she refused to eat anything because she saw her mom put capsicum during the meal preparation. So, her mom cooked something else, promising that she wouldn’t put any capsicum into the food. Her mom, however, was smart enough to grind the capsicum to show as if no capsicum was added. So, my cousin sister had no idea about capsicum being mixed into the yummy-looking food in her plate. She took a spoon and said that that was the most amazing dish she has ever tasted. She likes the food because she thinks that there is no capsicum in the food. Her thoughts made her like capsicum unconsciously.

 

My experiences with orphanage kids and boyfriend, and my cousin sister’s experiences clearly support that thoughts actually do determine what we like. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we tend to like things because of the way we perceive and accept things. I believe this is such a gift that we can interpret things in the ways we believe in; it proves that we are special, different from all other living organism by having the ability to think and have different perspectives.

Please read my thoughts, thank you!

Central Argument: We should not forget the traditional ways of expressing appreciation by using words such as “please” and “thank you.”

These days, I feel people around me only receive without giving. What annoys me the most is people’s behavior as if they deserve to only receive from the very first place. It’s interesting how the write of the article Please Read This Story, Thank You has similar thoughts as mine. Words of appreciation such as “please” and “thank you” seem to disappear day by day. Through my experiences and observations, I realized that expressing appreciation is very important and should not be forgotten.

I myself have experienced several times the unpleasantness when people don’t appreciate. One day, I was asked by my classmate to help her with her homework. Honestly, she wasn’t a really close friend of mine, but I gladly agreed to help her. As I helped her with her work at that moment she asked me, I had to change my plans of my study timings. Though I knew I will have another sleepless night by helping her out, I chose to be a nice classmate and helped her get through the work as much as I needed. However, the moment I was a little uncertain with a part of the work, she started complaining that I am not smart enough to help her. She walked away without even saying two simple words, “thank you.”

My mom once told me about her unpleasant experience with people not knowing how to express appreciation. She helped one of her employees in her company to get through the difficult stage in her family. It is pretty rare to see a boss help out employee with family problems, but my mom wanted to be magnanimous and kind to all her employees. The employee got through with the family problems as my mom had spoken to that employee’s family members and sorted out the financial problems they faced. My mom was really glad that she could help. However, the very next month, the employee asked my mom to give her more money. He came into my mom’s office and simply said, “Give me more money. I need it.” First of all, there was no respect in the tone he asked. And most importantly, though he is the person who is in need and is asking a favor, he did not say “please.” My mom was terrified with the way her employee behaved towards her; she told me that people always think what they get is what they deserve, and they are not grateful at all. She was disappointed with her employee; her trust towards him broke completely, leading to firing him.

Many students say that teachers favor certain students. And perhaps, it may be true. However, once I started noticing the characteristics of students favored by teachers, I couldn’t deny teachers’ understandable preposition towards them. Students favored by teachers are polite, and by that, polite means their frequent use of“please” and “thank you” to teachers. Whether they ask teachers for help, questions, or even extensions for their homework, they never forget to appreciate the teachers’ kindness to permit their favors.

And of course, teachers unconsciously fall for these expressions of appreciation from those students, and thus favor these students. Even teachers are humans; they can’t help having more positive opinion about certain students than about other students who don’t care enough to appreciate teachers. The use of words “thank you” and “please” are such magical words. I’ve observed that students favored by teachers aren’t necessarily the clever and hard-working ones; some students who don’t even study still are favored by teachers just because of their behavior.

The use of these magical words “thank you” and “please” seems to be disappearing day by day. I am sure that most of the people would have experienced the unpleasantness of not being appreciated when they help others. We learn, as children, the way to respond when we receive help from others. It’s not very difficult, but it has great values and power to make people feel good about being appreciated. By accepting help from others happily and giving help to others happily by appreciating each other is the ideal way to cooperate in this independent society. We should not forget to express this appreciation. So, let’s use these words more often, “please” and “thank you.”

Because there's something more than science..

Central Argument: Science does not prove everything in this world because it is what humans develop over generations.

Science in our world has become one of the most important subjects to be learnt to understand our fundamental lives. Schools make science mandatory till students are aware of the basic concepts, and people around the world believe if one has great knowledge science, he or she is very smart. However, even the greatest scientists cannot prove everything in our lives. Thorsten Botz-Bornstein clearly states that not everything can be proved with science because humans are the ones who created science. Humans have limits themselves. When we lack knowledge, we won’t be able to know the truth and existence.

One debate that’s been going on between religion and science is the discussion about development of humans from chimpanzees. Some people say that according to classifications of animals, humans have similar characteristics with that of chimpanzees. It has been proven that lots of chimpanzees’ behaviors are similar to ours. However, there is no evidence that our ancestors were actually chimpanzees because our science cannot determine how the creatures are actually formed or are in existence now. This clearly shows that science is very limited.

The story of Wright brothers also shows that our opinions and thoughts are very limited with limited science. No one during their time ever thought that humans could fly. Because of limited science, people thought flying was just impossible. But since the moment Wright brothers proved and showed their hard work of years, people think of airplanes merely as one of the transportation systems. I feel things that we assume are impossible right now will one day be simply ignored of its difficulties by our children and their children. However, science will continue to have its limits during next generation and the next as well.

This example may be applicable only to some people; it’s about my faith. I believe that God exists because I have felt him through my heart, I have heard him through my worship, and I have talked to him through my prayers. People may say that God does not exist. But I believe that he is with me and so does many other believers of different religions in this world. However, many scientists argue that God’s existence cannot be proved by any device or instrument or even theories. Hence, they assume that God does not exist. However, before science developed, no one knew if humans had brains. Students wouldn’t have been sure if their professors really had brains because they haven’t touched or felt or smelled or seen their professors’ brains. Scientifically there wouldn’t have been any proof that professor has more knowledge than the students. Yet, there is this abstract mind called faith that cannot be proved by science.

Many people believe that science is what we need to believe because it gives right definition, rational decisions, and so on. However, there are so many things in life that cannot be understood with only science. There is a limit. Perhaps the extent of limit will be furthered when science develops. Nevertheless, people should not forget that science is what humans created with their limited knowledge and should hope that their beliefs about science will be clearly distinguished by the future generations.

When someone has eyes on you~

Central Argument: Surveillance makes us choose right actions but usually without the right reason -- wanting to do the right thing.

Everyone knows that they have different choices in their life. The two choices after narrowing down are the right and the wrong. Most of the time, the wrong path seems to be more thrilling and exciting, inculcating into people a desire to be bad despite their conscience. They do, however, know that their acts are wrong and often want to cover their mistakes from other people. Over time, the discovery of surveillance has been uncovering people’s mistakes, thus leading to even justice through surveillance. This makes people choose to do right things. However, as Emrys Westacott says, surveillance cannot make people morally upright; through experiences and observations of people’s behavior, it is clear that people choose to do right things under surveillance just because they feel someone is watching them and their immoral behaviors.

My aunt is very particular about obedience. All of us, especially her son Ye Chan, know this very well. I always thought Ye Chan, who is only five years old, knows to obey elders. However, one day when my aunt had asked me to take care of him, I noticed that he does not obey my grandparents. He screamed and threw things around when he was angry, and he did not eat healthy food but junk. But the day my aunt returned, he was again a quiet, cute little kid. We could simply say that this isn’t a big deal because he is still a small kid, but the fact he is still small yet knows how to behave when in front of his mom proves that humans want to cover their mistakes since they are very little kids.

While observing students and myself, I realize that surveillance doesn’t really make us morally upright. When a teacher gives an assignment to be submitted to plagiarism-detecting website turnitin.com, all of us try not to let even a single phrase to be copied from any source. However, when we are assigned to simply hand the work to the teacher, we usually do not care much even if we copy few phrases; we simply give an excuse: “well, I can’t think of any way to rephrase this.” It is so clear that we students are often stressed and not happy to submit our work on turnitin.com, showing that we aren’t really learning to be morally upright in our lives but are learning how to act accordingly under surveillance.

My uncle is another example. Although he is a working, employed adult, he does what we do in school – acting accordingly under surveillance. The day he sent me a chat, I wondered how he was free to chat with me during his working hours. It was soon clear that he usually chats with lots of people while his boss is not around. Perhaps he was really glad to chat with me after a long time, but if chatting during working hours is not wrong at all, why doesn’t he reply to my chats when his boss is around? My uncle stops chatting when his boss is around because he knows that chatting during working hours makes him a lazy, not-focused employee. Focusing on his work not because he wants to do the right thing but because he wants represent himself as a trustworthy employee, is that the goal of surveillance?

Surveillance surely makes people more likely to choose to do the right thing. But it does not make people to do so because of the right reasons. Observing a small kid Ye Chan, my friends who are teenagers, and adults like my uncle, I understood that whichever phase of life we are at, we only try to cover up our mistakes and thus do our best only under surveillance while we are carefree when we aren’t under surveillance. If we keep on acting right because we have to and not because we want to, will we be morally upright inside out or only when under surveillance forever?

Of Marriage and Single Life

Central Argument: Both being single or married has advantages as well as disadvantages; when man is single, he has the freedom yet does not have the caring mind a married man would have.

 In his essay, Of Marriage and Single Life, Francis Bacon writes about the advantages as well as the disadvantages of being either single or married men. He believes that Marriage life and single life both have positive and negative outcomes. I have a similar perspective or view point with that of Bacon. Looking at people around me, I can see the married and single men’s good or bad stands in their life.

One of the examples that shows single men are free is my uncle J. He is around 34 years old, the age people slowly think of him as an old bachelor. But I find uncle J very satisfied with his life. He graduated Columbia University of New York, he is popular, he is smart, and he enjoys working as a teacher admired by girls at a Korean Institution of English. He says that he does not have to return home at specific timings and need not worry anyone when he comes home late due to delayed work. He manages his finance on his own; he said it’s very comfortable. But one day, on our way to a camping trip, he shouted at my cousin for being very immature, and this incident made me agree with Francis Bacon’s statement that single men “are more cruel and hardhearted.”

I remember that day my mom told me that her brother-in-law, S, was quite upset when uncle J shouted at his son, my cousin. Maybe uncle J was right to try to educate the kid to be more mature, yet he couldn’t understand that little child’s immaturity by nature. All children pass a stage of immaturity; uncle J seemed to have no idea about it and simply scolded the child in front of the child’s parents. Uncle J, on the other hand, showed great understanding about kids the other day in a wedding. A kid spilled food on uncle J’s shirt while running around the hallway, and uncle J’s white shirt was dyed with different food colors. However, uncle S didn’t scold the child; instead, he asked the child to be careful not to get hurt anywhere while running.

Uncle S’s friend, however, told me once when he visited our house that he feels left out when Uncle S keeps on backing out on going for more outings or spending time with his friends. And so, Francis Bacon’s statement is right once again. Knowing Uncle S, he must have “transmit[ted] [his] dearest pledges” – spending time with his friends.

 
Being single is good. Being married is also good. However, both have disadvantages, either losing freedom or lacking magnanimity. Hence, in whichever situation men may be, they should enjoy as much freedom or ability given to them.

Youth and age

3. Central Argument: Both age and youth include positive and negative characteristics.

In his essay, Of Youth and Age, Sir Francis Bacon discusses the positive and negative characteristics of both age and youth. And I absolutely agree with his idea; I find so many young men passionate yet inexperienced, old men organized yet indifferent, and men of different age with various range of experiences and ponderous opinions.

I remember when I was a sports captain in middle school I wanted to make people more interested and passionate about sports. Only imagining the day people will love sports and participate in school sports activities, I merely made a chart filled with facts about why sports is good for you. I brought up the idea that on sports day we should have dance performances and special songs to entertain the audience. As suggested by Sir Francis Bacon in his essay, I, as a young girl, was “fitter for new projects;” I didn’t want to stick to the same, old ways previous sports captains simply followed. But time passed by, and I ended up following what all the previous captains had done. People loved the idea, but planning was a horrifying job. I wasn’t aware how to change the system our school had followed for years, how to organize the setting, and how to make people enthusiastic. I was not ready.

My mom, on the other hand, is a very well organized person through experiences. She is a teacher with more than twenty years of experience. But she told me something very interesting; she follows the same pattern of teaching even though the world is improving day by day. She says that she can’t even think of new ideas of making students excited about learning and that she is not really willing to make anymore changes in her teaching style. Teaching piano has now become a part of her life, but my mom tells me that she does not enjoy teaching anymore as much as she did when she first started it and sometimes wonder why she picked piano teacher as her profession. As mentioned in the essay by Sir Bacon, “men of age… adventure too little, repent too soon.”

Regardless age and youth, people have had different experiences through their lives, and we cannot ignore those valuable experiences just because we didn’t experience. Those experiences may have impacted people in positive or negative way. Noticing some people older than me very stereotypical when they face certain situations and some people younger than me very mature, I realized that both old and young people have good as well as bad characteristics to their behavior. What I must learn, though, is that others will also have opinions about me, either good or bad, and hence, I need to work on improving myself into a better experienced, mature, creative and passionate person in the society.

Advertisements - rational or emotional

Central Argument: Out of the two types of advertisements, rational and emotional, it is hard to say which is better than the other because all humans have rational yet emotional thoughts.

           All of us would have laughed, jumped with joy, or cried at least once at some point of our lifetime. The feelings don’t come out after logical thinking; they happen in an instant. I can almost guarantee that no one ponders over the reasons for shedding tears before crying, with the exception of actors and actresses when in front of cameras. Without any particular reason, feelings just can’t be controlled and denied. On the other hand, there are facts that can’t be denied as well because there is absolutely no way to prove them wrong; they are true. Facts are what they are, the conclusions generations of people experienced and came up with. Hence, it is hard to say which is better, being rational or emotional.

           Advertisements with facts convince people to buy products by providing undeniable reasons of requirement. I, also as a part of the victim, have experienced the irrefutable feeling of necessity for the product when I watched advertisements providing real reasons. As a person relying heavily on factual benefits of products, when I watched an advertisement listing the need of IPad for easy transportation, access to Wi-Fi, and utilization of multiple applications which could be used for different situations, I couldn’t resist asking my parents to buy that most useful technology thing ever in the world.

           Emotion-provoking advertisements are also very convincing. I remember watching an advertisement of a bike. It showed a man with number of girls on a very sexy car, but when another man appeared with this awesome bike, all the girls left the man with the car to join the man with the bike. Being as a girl, I thought the advertisement will provoke the guys to buy the bike for obvious reasons - guys want girls. So, if I was thinking about the advertisement in this way, I wonder how much impact it will actually have on the guys. But I know for sure that my uncle, who was with me then, wanted it really badly.  

   

            Personally, I really rely on facts for certain kind of advertisements such as medicine, because I know that medicine is a matter about life or death. I know that good medicine is essential for me to live on when compared to other products relatively. On the other hand, when I see advertisements about IPod, talking about entertainment it provides, I get this desire to buy IPod though I don’t really require it.

           Advertisements with facts and those attacking emotions cannot be compared. The debate is still on and the psychology community is still trying to answer because all of us have experienced that rational advertisements as well as irrational advertisements inculcate us to buy the products.

Abortion - woman's choice or not?

Central Argument: Abortion should be a woman’s right because out of the two options, suffering yet enjoying with moribund children and preventing but missing painful love for them, neither one is mutually exclusive.

Abortion has been an ethical issue on debate for a long time. Some people say that it is absolutely wrong while some say that it is a woman’s right because she is responsible for the child. There’s nothing wrong with both the options; people have different opinions because they are different. Yet, they argue only for only one answer.

It is right to say that abortion is a woman’s right because she will be the one going through the suffering, happiness, or love depending on the choice she makes. As the writer of the article “Rick Santorum, Meet My Son” argues with her experiences, a woman has the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy when the path of her child’s life is of limited quality. Emily Rapp, as a slightly disabled person herself but a mother to a blind, paralyzed, nonresponsive little boy, shows that her mother’s choice of not aborting her was great – because she has a great life currently – but that her choice of not aborting her son was pretty horrible – because she doesn’t want her son to go through this life of limited quality. The choice, in the end, is at mother’s hands. This is what some people believe: abortion should be a woman’s right.

Here’s another belief upheld by different people. I am a Christian. I was taught since the time I could comprehend that life is very important and valuable. By this, life means invaluable to anyone in this world, even to the babies born with disabilities. Most of the Christians in this world would have been taught the same way I’ve been. They believe that life is God’s gift and hence each and every individual has the right to get the opportunity to live on in this world even through difficult circumstances. Watching kids struggle as they grow may be a very difficult task for parents, but only in the presence of kids do the parents learn that having kids with disabilities is very painful because of love. If they didn’t allow these disabled kids to be out in this world, would they have even realized the amount of love they have towards their kids?

I believe no one is absolutely right. This issue deals with one’s belief and values. If one is a person with belief of invaluable life, then he or she will never be convinced that abortion can ever be a woman’s right. On the other hand, a person with solid belief of quality life will not stop arguing that abortion should be a woman’s right. Hence, the conclusion neither states that abortion being a woman’s choice is either right or wrong. This issue in our complicated, diverse world need not be narrowed down to plainly white or black. There are so many factors such as religion and people’s characters involved in the issue. Therefore, Emily Rapp’s argument of abortion being woman’s right is neither right or wrong but qualified to certain people.

Analysis 1 : You set me free (song by Michelle Branch)

What made "You set me free" by Michelle Branch a famous song that it was even chosen to be one of the songs in the movie "Ice Princess?"

The answer lies in the unique yet familiar style and matchable lyrics of the song.

The song starts with a simple, soft strumming of guitar, but in the midst of strumming, there's a phrase that is repeated. This repetition makes the listeners feel that the song is easy to follow. As the energetic voice of Michelle Branch enters followed by drum beats, the phrase repeatedly played by the guitar keeps on ringing in the listeners' minds. Harmony is added with more voices, making the music rich. This music gets built up as the guitar acts like the resolutor, bringing the melody back to the original and repeated phrase. When it reaches the apogee of build up in the end of the chorus, there is an off beat -- at "see, yeah" -- followed by sudden break out of music. This discontinuity of music at this point gives tension to the listeners. It is when the initial repeated phrase of guitar enters, the listeners feel the excitement of the song. That repeated guitar phrase is something they heard throughout the music and hence something they are very familiar with.

The overall tone of song is very light and optimistic. This is due to the major chords of the songs. According to Norman D. Cook of Kansai University in Japan, psychophysical explanation for "bright" mood of major chords is due to semitone decreasse of major chords, indicating strength and social dominance following sound symbolism of human languages (http://www.psycho.hes.kyushu-u.ac.jp/~lab_miura/Kansei/Workshop/proceedings/O-205.pdf).  So, the lyrics talking about being "set.. free" perfectly matches the positive mood of the song. In fact, the emphasis is given to the phrase "You set me free" when the music stops as explained in the previous paragraph--creating tension. The lyrics arouse sympathy from the listeners with the use of familiar phrases such as "there's a will, there's a way" and "words can't explain."

There's also storytelling (one of the most powerful device to arouse audience's sympathy) involved at appropriate timing in the music. It appears when the familiar pattern of the music suddenly breaks after the second verse. From major, the song changes to minor key, which gives psychological affect of sadness. The lyrics in the minor chord phrase of the song talk about the time "when I was alone," indicating a time of loneliness and sadness. But when "[he] came around," the sadness was changed into happiness, expressed as change of minor chords to major chords in the music.

Finally, by going back to the initial phrases and familiar cut of music, the song ends with a single,  abrupt, pleasure-giving voice.

My Greatest Song

ANC 51: perfect imperfection

227. The 100 percent perfect ...


A world with perfection will be very desolate. There'll be no more doctors smiling and kindly helping to improve patients' health, no more students learning new, interesting things in life, no more engineers to fix problems in different technology, no more researchers to look for facts and flaws in knowledge we have on discoveries, and no more purpose in life because perfection is already achieved. 


The beauty of perfection is that we cannot approach it in any way. Like a diamond looking precious out of hands but looking like a dull jewelry when possessed, perfection is looked up because it is beautiful when it is not achieved. 


Because everything is imperfect, we share love, care, worries, happiness, sadness with one another. When everything is perfect, there's no need to remove or add anything. Perfection does not need any of these expression and feelings from others because it is perfect. But in return, if there were none of these feelings, what would make anything perfect? Without these feelings, there's no friends, no family, no supporters, and so on. Perfection is absolute. There is no requirement of anything. 


We try to achieve perfection. But the fact that we cannot achieve perfection however much we try is what makes us perfect altogether. Because patients are imperfect in health, doctors give help. Because doctors are imperfect, they continue to study with new discoveries about our body found by researchers and biologists. To help these researchers and biologists are engineers developing technology. In order to develop engineering skills are schools, colleges, and universities. 


Because everything is interdependent and imperfect, our world is perfect. 

ANC 50: Life records

163. If you could invent something, what would it be, and why? (University of Virginia)


Our world is developing day by day and our lives are getting better as time goes by. With many inventions making our life easier and more comfortable, any invention not having real effect of ease hardly get attention these days. 


But I would like to make an invention that is not related to developing our life. Rather, I would love to invent a machine that records one's life. We have devices such as camera and video recorder to savor our memories. But all the humorous, sad, interesting, embarrassing moments we've had in our lives are nowhere but only in our minds. Even the sad and embarrassing moments are funny when we think back on, yet we do not even have humorous moments of our lives recorded in such a way that we can remember them properly. 


The time when I was born, the way I looked and cried as a baby, how I played as a kid, where I went with friends and families, and how I learnt and put effort.. All of these to be recorded in one machine.. that someday I'll be able to watch these and smile like when I read my old journals. All the reason I want to make this life-recording machine is that I don't want to miss or forget any of the small moments I have had in my life because my life has been very interesting and challenging with happy and sad moments shared with my friends and family. 

ANC 49: Small Hero

168. Imagine that you are a "hero" or "heroine" for one day during any time period and under any circumstances. Write a creative essay describing your experience. (Notre Dame)


In the pitch black darkness, I heard noises of whips coming out of a small alley. I peeped cautiously. There was a man rebuking small kids wearing torn clothes. He seemed to ask money from them. I knew I had to do something. Calling the police was the first thing I did. But I had to stop the man before the kids got hurt anymore. Until the police came I had to prevent the man from killing the kids. I looked around and found a stick. 


I had to make sure that I was careful. As soon as I entered the alley, the man noticed me. He smirked seeing that I was the only one to notice the situation. He simply asked me to go away, but I refused and continued to walk towards the kids. I told him to stop hitting children like a jerk. It made him get mad at me and raise his whip. As I saw the whip coming towards me, I took the stick and caught the end of the whip. The whip then rolled around the stick, and as soon as that happened I pulled the stick at a very quick, powerful speed. Thankfully, the man seemed to be drunk and he didn't have much balance that his hands let loose from the whip. He roared and ran towards me holding a knife in his hands. But that very moment, policemen pointed their gun towards him and the drunk man was arrested soon. I took the kids to the hospital and got them get cared there. I bought them clothes and food and asked them to call me whenever they needed me. 

The incident was small and I hadn't done much. But my heart was filled with satisfaction and relief that I was able to help at least few kids out in this world. 

ANC 48: I don't know

133. French novelist Anatole France wrote: "An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't." What don't you know? (Brown)

I agree strongly with Anatole France. The more I learn, the more I feel I do not know. 

In biology class, as I learn different functions of our body, I understand that different organisms have different genetic codes, different organ functions, different cell structures, and different ability to survive. But I wonder how different organisms evolved first of all and who made those genetic codes first of all. 

In Mathematics class, I develop my calculation skills, but I wonder who ever discovered such formulas and why they did so, and who made devices such as graphing calculators and how they are made. 

In Chemistry class, I wonder why there are different chemical substances found in the world, why some substances react and some don't, how some elements have isotopes while others don't. 

In English class, I wonder why there are so many different types of English used in different periods of time, why people wanted to classify English into British English and American English, how English became international language, and why the grammar and spellings are so complicated. 

And I wonder with such lack of knowledge if I'll ever be able to get into a college, if I'll be able to assimilate all the required information for my career, if I'll be able to pay for the fees first of all, and if I'll be able to survive in this society which seems to have corruption and satires developing day by day. 

And now I wonder if I know what I do not know because what I don't know will not be in my mind. I won't be even aware of the things I do not know. Now I wonder if this question really makes sense or not. 

ANC 47: Wednesdays

123. How do you feel about Wednesday? (U of Chicago)

There are two different feelings depending on my condition on different Wednesdays. 

As soon as I realize that it's Wednesday and think in my mind, "Oh, man, it's only Wednesday," it means that that particular Wednesday is going to be a very slow, boring one. Monday and Tuesday seemed like two weeks already, and today is only Wednesday, which means there's still Thursday and Friday to go. That's 24 hours of Thursday, 24 hours of Friday, and 12 hours of today... in total 60 hours more, which is 3600 minutes, 216000 seconds long...! Oh my God. I sigh. And trust me, throughout that day, my mind is full of how to make the time flow faster. Sometimes I feel Wednesday is even worse than Mondays. At least I'm prepared for Mondays by taking good rest during Sunday evening! But Wednesday just makes me feel stuck in the middle of the week, reminding me of stupid things I've done past two days and demanding more energy to survive next two days. 

But surprisingly, more often, I get a different feeling. I do not realize that it's Wednesday in the morning. All I can feel is invigorated body and mind. Good night sleep, good breakfast, and good weather.. As I gaze at the blue sky, I then realize. "Wait.. Oh my gosh, it's already Wednesday?" And from then on, I think I don't have much time. I had so many things planned to do this week. I have fun in everything I do that day and try to do my best to not have any regrets later. Tomorrow is Thursday, and the day after is Friday! Only two more days and this week's going to pass and never come back in my life. 

The two feelings I go through on Wednesdays are so different from each other that sometimes I feel like someone puts magic on me while I'm asleep on Wednesday dawns. But I guess what really matters is what I think in the morning. I say to myself that Wednesdays are the best days in the week because it's the day I can reflect back on my behavior past two days. If I had made any mistakes, it's fine because I have two more days to fix them! If I had spent two past days perfectly, I have more chances of completing this week with happy ending! 

Wednesday makes me feel like I have magic powers. 

ANC 46: Good and Bad in me

86. How would you describe yourself as a human being? What quality do you like best in yourself and what do you like least? What quality would you most like to see flourish and which would you like to see wither?" (Bates College)


I'm an incomplete human being. I am neither perfect nor horrible as a human being in this world. Still developing, shaping, learning, and improving, I am a human being just like others in the world trying their best through many ways to become a complete human being. 


Half of me is perfect. By socializing, being kind, serving, participating, and expressing ideas and opinions, I have respect from friends, family, teachers, and people around me; they like me as who I am. In return, I have gratefulness towards them. By putting efforts in everything I do and trying to do my best, many people think I have a wonderful status in life, with good grades, friends, and family. 


Half of me is horrible. While showing great facade to people, I display the most horrifying behavior towards the people closest to me. I show anger, hatred, jealousy, enmity and turn away from them when busy with my work. Selfish and stubborn, I hardly listen to anyone when I have my opinion. Narrow-minded and careless, I've faced many blockades trying to stop me from wrong path, but I trespass those with recklessness and heedlessness.


Only if I developed more caring heart, more open-mindedness, more faith, more trust, and more love, and only if I deterred hatred, anger, enmity, jealousy, narrow-mindedness, and doubts from growing, then would I perhaps get out of horrible half of me. Probably, I would not be perfect but a complete human being, helpful to others in the society. 

ANC 45: Who am I?

50. Tell us about yourself. (University of California)


A girl with a white skin fetish, chinky, black eyes, straight, black hair, round nose, and red lips.. 
Having a typical Korean look, speaking in Korean, but having a typical Indian accent as she speaks English.. 
Called as stone age girl due to lack of knowledge about celebrities, cars, and movies..
Socializing with different range of people in South India, North India, Korea, and different parts of the world..
Removing socks as soon as reaching home..
Adept in eating Indian curries with right hand.. 
Loving friends and families the most in the world.. 
Always looking forward to learn new things that fascinate me and stirs curiosity..
Enjoying talking to teachers and getting advice from elders.. 
Strong in opinions and participation for activities.. 
Thinking of continuing Tae Kwon Do but too lazy to actually do so.. 
Releasing stress by playing piano and violin and listening to music.. 
Having grown up in India for most of life..
Hating to watch horror movies.. 
Not minding dancing and singing in public..
Desiring to have happiness with families and friends by having enough education, occupation, and wealth, facing reality.. 
Dreaming of becoming a person helpful to neighbors and society..
is me. 

ANC 44: Killing enmity

203. How can a person get along with an enemy?

I think it is very difficult to say what really helps a person get along with an enemy. One will have all the possible negative feelings towards the enemy: hatred, enmity, jealousy, and so on. And finding a way to relinquish all of these negative feelings is really hard. The first step to getting along with an enemy, however, is forgiveness according to me. By first considering forgiving one's enemy, one succeeds in having the courage and heart to consider the recovery of the relationship between them. 

The next step is having a heart to understand the enemy's situations. I believe that each an every individual in this world has his/her own behind stories that might have caused them to do wrong doings. Sometimes, we even face situations where we have to do wrong things in order to fix situations. A small example for this is a high school student drinking due to peer pressure in order to keep his high school life safe. But the fact is, we do not know how many students in that gang is dedicated to force others to drink; asking another student to drink might have started with only one  popular person's ideas and other followed. We also often see articles talking about murderers having killed people due to their genetic problems or mental problems. It is utterly sad that we often classify people as good and bad. So, even your enemy might have his/her own situations.

Most importantly, throughout the process in getting along with an enemy, one needs to kill the heart of revenge. One should stop thinking about taking a revenge because revenge is what makes the enmity grow. 

Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44)

Probably following this statement in the Bible is really hard. But perhaps we can try to kill the negative feelings we have towards enemies first.  

ANC 43: Summer before college

174. If money and family obligations left you entirely free, how and where would you spend the summer before college?

To me, high school means many things; it is really special. Grown as a missionary kid, I could not dream of getting into an expensive international school every in my life. I had always attended public school or local school in India, which cost maximum $1000 per year. Only with many supports was I able to attend the 1st ranked international school in India. 

Hence, leaving high school to proceed to college is a very special occasion for me. And I believe summer before college will be the perfect time to reflect all this value. First of all, I want to visit all the people who supported me and made it possible for me to attend high school: support either in money or prayer. And I want to return happiness by telling them that I could get into a good college only because of their support. That will make both them and me happy. 

Then, I want to have a party with all of my high school friends, including the people I wasn't very close because of competition. Only because of them was I able to pass through the difficult studies and dorm life in high school, and only because of them was I able to focus studying among competition. As mentioned, my high school life was dorm life. That just makes my high school life very special. I have so much memories shared with each one of my friends, dorm teachers, and school teachers. I'm sure I'll be busy once I get into college, so I want to have all the fun I can with them during summer. The best place for this will be beach! I can already imagine all of us swimming, eating, and chatting under the sunlight with cool breeze and ocean in front of us. 

Lastly, I would go to a village in a valley where air is fresh and scenery is beautiful. Before going to college, I should reflect on my life so far and get ready to face the reality of life laid in front of me. I would write journals, take pictures, hike to mountains, and breathe in healthy air. I would make posters full of pictures of people who helped me, friends who will face college with me, and my family that has always supported and encouraged me. 

Through these three things, I am sure that I will get a new determination to start my college life. By remembering gratefulness, friendship, and freshness, I will have so much adventure in college.

ANC 42: in that college..

159. "The instructor said,/Go home and write/a page tonight./And let that page come out of you,/Then, it will be true." The second line of this poem by Langston Hughes, "Theme for English B," goes on to ask: "I wonder if it's that simple?" We ask you here to write a truthful page about yourself, beginning where Hughes begins: "I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem./I went to school there, then Durham, then here/to this college on the hill above Harlem./I am the only colored student in my class." That is to say, each of us is at a certain stage of life and has a history. Each of us has lived somewhere and gone to school. We each are what we feel and see and hear, as the poem goes on to say. Begin there and see what happens. (University of Chicago)


I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went to school there, then Durham, then here
to this college on the hill above Harlem.
I am the only colored student in my class.


Some mock, some laugh, and some criticize
the way God has presented me
and sent me to this beautiful but saddest campus.
All I do is smile back at them, hoping for the best.


I speak at debates, I play instruments, 
I listen to my teachers, I respect them, 
All of these carried out just by emulation,
by faith, by pride, by love in me. 


I fell, I got up by myself, but it was hard.

The next time I fell, it was harder.

The next time I fell, I couldn't do alone, 

but with a new friend's invaluable help. 

A friend's help is encouragement,

a fuel for my confidence,

doubling, tripling, and quadrupling

friends, supports, and happiness.

With precious moments God gave me, I now go

to this college on the hill above Harlem, where

I am the only colored student in my class, which

makes me exceptionally proud, happy, and special. 

ANC 41: not alone

126. Are we alone? (Tufts)

Crawling on four limbs,

Spilling spits everywhere, 

With hankie hung around the neck, 

the small creature gets attention;

"Come here! Here's a candy for you!" 

"Aww, let me clean diapers for you" 

The small creature now on two limbs, 

Attending school and learning society, 

Faces pressure from different world

And forgets the true supporters around;

"You can do it. Don't be depressed"

"I will pray for you. Best of luck!"

The creature now bigger than ever, 

With responsibilities and stress on shoulders,

Bends its back slowly, 

Losing track of its beloved in front;

"I respect my Daddy!"

"I love you, honey"

On two limbs supported by one artificial limb,

The creature enervated, shaking, 
Sadly sits in a corner of balcony, 
Gazing at the sky that gives warm sunlight
Over the creature thinking to be 
All alone for these years. 


Having never looked around, 
the creature failed to realize 
that there were always someone around, 
that there's always someone caring and watching,
that it was never alone.