Essay Questions

What is your most memorable childhood experience?My most memorable childhood experience was a family trip to Yellowstone National Park. While its impossible to chose one moment, some of the highlights included seeing old faithful, being bitten by a whistle pig (a gopher like critter), and sharing a cabin with my family.
What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why?I always identified most with my nearest older sister. We always had the most similarities growing up, in both physical characteristics and personality traits. We shared a very typical childhood experience of playing and bickering and everything in between. We played many games and sports together throughout our entire lives and have had a lot of shared impact on our adult personalities. This closeness was never quite matched in the relationship we had with our other siblings.
What character traits do you admire in an individual?I admire genuine, confident people. I enjoy all different types of personalities and characters as long as it is evident that they are unapologetically themselves and similarly enjoy the freedom that that brings.
What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you?While it is a long list, I was once at a Thanksgiving celebration hosted by an ex's downstairs neighbors, a large Dominican family. We spent the whole night eating copious amounts of food and dancing at every moment in between. About halfway (maybe slightly further) through the night I was dancing near the door, facing the center of the room and split my dress pants to a pretty impressive degree. I whispered into my ex's ear what had just happened and we proceeded to dance bachata backward out of their apartment and went upstairs for me to change. When we got upstairs we fell on her couch and laughed until we cried.
If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why?While I do desire to literally see the world, if I had to choose one place, it would be China. Chinese (and east Asian culture in general) has always been so mysterious and romantic to me. It started when I was young, my mom would travel to China for business and when she told me stories about her time there it just always sounded like the most magical place, so different from our lives and culture here that there would be no substitute for seeing it with my own eyes.
When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them?I would hope to pass on my passion for different places and cultures. I believe too many people are afraid of the unknown, and are content to live their entire lives without ever understanding more than their own tiny corner of the world. My kids wouldn't be so easily contented.