In my childhood, I very much feared and detested my mother. Her temper changed so quickly and so often that I perceived her as the most vivid living illustration of unpredictability. I also did not know what would trigger her anger - whether it was something apparently bad as breaking a cup, or something supposedly good as hugging her - all I knew was that anything I did risked infuriating her. She scolded me for trivial reasons, so I fought against her frequently because I did not understand what drove her to do that. After each fight, almost always, she came to me to apologize, saying she started the fight only because she felt overwhelmed and unsettled. She said I was a good kid. Her apologies sounded sincere, but not convincing enough to change her impression in my mind. I responded with silence. In the meantime, I asked myself questions that I could not answer: why should I be pushed back when I try to kiss her cheek? Why should I be slapped when I accidentally spilled soup on the counter? Why would my mother distance herself from me most of the time? The answer was revealed in a fight between my parents when I was nine years old. My father called my mother a psychopath, outcrying that her anxiety disorder has been a bad influence on the family. It was the first time I learned that my mother suffered from mental illness. Her perplexing actions were the symptoms. As soon as I felt sorry for her, I heard my father threatening to send her to the “madhouse.” The facility he referred to was a hospital that specialized in treating mental diseases, yet he intentionally chose to use “madhouse” as its name instead. In tears, my mother begged him not to do so. That night was restored in peace in less than an hour, but my father continued calling my mother “the psychopath” for several years. Since then, I have learned to cope with my mother’s condition. I have been aware that I should back off when she experiences anxiety: I ask before I want to kiss her; I apologize and clean up immediately after I taint the counter; I step away to give her space when she does not want me nearby. Most importantly, when she scolds me unreasonably, I just keep quiet and leave the room. She recovers as soon as her anxiety attack is over, then she comes to thank me for my respect. I provide her accommodations, but I hope she can be cured so her suffering can end for good, and mine as well. I asked her politely to visit counselors, but she would not go. It is easy to comprehend: if she goes, other people would know that she is mentally ill, and people with mental diseases in China are treated as the inferior class - they are a disgrace to their family, undesirable to their friends, criminals-to-be to the society. Even if they are cured, they remain marginalized as the group of people who bring nothing but misery to people around them, just because they have a history. I realized that not just my mother needs help. There are thousands of people in China who have to endure their conditions silently. They rarely have anyone to confide in. They hide in the darkness; or rather, the popular consensus forces them into the darkest corner and leaves them to die. They all need help. If my mother is to be cured, society must be cured first. The sickness that resides in most Chinese people is called bias; the only effective treatment would be education. My goal is to contribute to the social movement that increases awareness for mental disease and respect for mentally ill patients. I wish to become an educator to erase Chinese people’s doubts and malice toward those who need help. I want to shout out to the world that mental disease is just like any other disease, and mentally ill patients are human beings, too. I will urge patients to seek help as soon as they are hurt, and encourage others to come to support as long as they are capable. The people left behind in the corners of the earth shall perish if not attended well, and I will warn the society that if we let this happen, when we become mentally ill, we shall perish miserably like them. I have faith in accomplishing this goal. My effort shall bring my mother and everyone else to the daylight.

I suffered from obesity before the pandemic. There was so much weight on my legs that my waist was often in pain for being overworked. I could not walk between classes without sitting down in the middle and rest for a while. For a time, I seriously considered buying a wheelchair. During the pandemic, I had more time with myself. I reflected on what I could do to improve my condition. Hence, I started losing weight. I worked out indoors and calculated the calories of my daily consumption. I never thought about giving myself a break to eat the junk food I wanted. I practiced resilience and persistence in the process. Within a year, I have already lost more than 70 pounds, landing my weight in a healthy range. The pandemic is a dreadful thing, but I learned to look at the brighter side - and take advantage of it. Life is great as long as we make it.

I am a first-generation international student. I want to help more girls from my village to pursue higher education. Going to college was my parents’ dream. In their youth, most Chinese people suffered from poverty, and they did not have the luck to be the exception. My father could not go to a traditional four-year college due to poverty, but my mother did not go to a college because she was a girl. My grandparents’ financial capacity could only support one of their three children to go to college. Instead of choosing one of the elder daughters, they chose to support their son. It was commonly believed in the village that girls did not need education - as long as they could marry wealthy men, they would have successful lives. So my mother did. She married my father, who made fortunes enough to support their only daughter to go to college in the US. However, they often encountered doubts from their friends and other family members: is it really worth spending so much on a girl’s education? True, it is 2021, yet so many people firmly believe that girls are less intelligent than boys, thus are not worthy of investment. I decided to prove to the doubters that they are wrong. In my journey of education, none of my parents understands English, but even without academic support from my family, I get straight As while taking the course overloads. Of course, I struggle sometimes, but I always actively reach out to the faculty and my peers to clear up my confusion. In the meantime, I have been eagerly acting as a student leader in college. I am on the board of numerous committees and help to shape the school policy. I assume my relatives should hold their tongue once they observe my work. In addition, the college I am enrolled in is Mount Holyoke College, the first women’s college in US history. I initially thought my admission was enough to shut the doubters’ mouths, but I was mistaken - in fact, they turned to despise the nature of my college, “I thought educated girls are ridiculous, now you are surrounded by them?” Their response repels me and also explains why my work within the college goes unnoticed. I intentionally applied to this college to seek female-empowering education, which the college is providing now. I know that if this generation in my village is not educated to erase their bias, not just themselves, their daughters and granddaughters will also be poisoned. Therefore, I have been devoting myself to volunteering teaching both domestically in my hometown and internationally. Girls whose families do not support their education financially, fear not! Because my team and I are there to support them selflessly. We live with the students and try to convince their parents of the importance of education with the students. As long as we are present, they shall have books to read and educational discussions to participate in. Our long-term goal is to maintain the sustainability of our teaching projects so that the girls can receive continuous aid. In the future, I plan on expanding the size of our team and send free education to more girls. For I am the living model of a female international first-generation student who is capable of accomplishing things many never dare to dream of, and I shall prove to the girls’ parents, the girls themselves, and those girls’ children that education can change their fate - with this weapon, they no longer need to rely on marriages and endure abusive husbands; they no longer need to be the goods their parents sell to the powerful; most importantly, they will be truly respected, so long as they are courageous to dream big and fight against the bias. They will become strong, independent modern women. I am making the change. I will push more people to join. We will be the change.

My name is Lumeng Yang. I grew up in Yantai, China, supported by a loving community. I have studied Chinese folk songs since I was 9 years old. After I went to the US for middle school, I systematically studied opera and choir. There, I discovered my passion for music, so in Grade 10, I transferred to a preprofessional art high school to study opera, musical, and Jazz. During the summer, I studied Beijing Opera to find closer relations with my root and my culture. In high school, I wondered how to give back to my community. I was capable of nothing but singing, but I was confused about how to help my community with my art. I knew that most people in my neighborhood struggled with poverty, yet I did not think I could lift them out of their financial struggle, and I did not know what else could help them. Therefore, I reached out to my father for a solution. Thanks to his network, he connected me to a special local service team. In addition to general community service, such as serving free meals and cleaning the trash on the streets, this team provided entertainment. The volunteers were good at singing, dancing, playing instruments, and many other forms of performing arts. During festivals, they performed in touring shows for free in my hometown. When I joined the team, they welcomed me enthusiastically. They adored the professional vocal skills I brought to the team, so I became their Vice-Captain and the vocal coach. They valued the detailed knowledge I taught, and together we improved the quality of our concerts. After touring with them for a few weeks, I understood why our service team was needed: the tickets of live performances in the local theatres were too expensive for the residents to afford. However, since we provided free live shows, this issue was resolved! Adding to the performances, we sent out delicious food and drinks to the audience, so they enjoyed free meals while being entertained. My community loved us. We were popular wherever we went. Certainly, the performances could be tiring sometimes, but as long as I saw the audience smiling, laughing, cheering, and applauding, I was filled with joy and energy again. There was nothing better in the world than to make people we care about happy. Thus, I enjoyed serving on this team. Moving into college, I start thinking about influencing others to do the same service we provide. I realize that there must be other communities like mine in the world, who struggle to pay the price to see a live show in the theatre. I firmly believe that art should be priceless and accessible to everyone without discrimination. Hence, I am working on calling volunteers from around the world to provide free performances to their communities. Let us share this love and help more people! After all, money is not the only solution to our struggles; instead, music can help profoundly as well.

“Life is too short, so enjoy it while you can.” Emerging from nowhere, this quote has been popular for a long time. I guess this is because that we all confirm it with our own life stories. I have two aunts. One can be deemed as the gentlest lady alive and the other is exactly the opposite. The former always sees the good in people, speaks encouraging words, and looks forward to another glorious day of life, while the latter sees the entire world as her enemy, curses and condemns, and wishes the last day of her life to come sooner. The only thing they share in common is that they all have breast cancer. The best-case scenario is that each of them removes one of their breasts and lives happily (or resentfully) ever after; the worst-case scenario is that they remove their breasts and die shortly after. Either situation is likely to occur. They never know until Death calls. My family believes in karma. In our opinion, the aggressive aunt may deserve to endure such pain but the gentle aunt definitely should not. She hesitates to hurt a mosquito even after she was bitten. I did not understand her unreasonable destiny until I learned the first half of the quote above - life is too short. It is not simply addressing the length of life and time; it rather tells the nature of everyone’s destiny: it is unpredictable. Anything can happen; and when it happens, it does not have to make sense. People dislike uncertainties. Knowing that we may die at any moment for no reason is disappointing. Hence, the latter half of the quote directs us to think on the brighter side: so enjoy it while we can. Once we perceive every living moment as a gift from our gods, we are less miserable. In fact, this quote encourages many people to use their time wisely to make their dreams come true and accomplish the impossibles. Like Martin Heidegger’s point in his book, Sein und Zeit, the core concept is sein zum tode, meaning “being towards death.” I like to interpret it as “to death we thrive.” If Death will come on a fixed date, then let us make the most out of what we have left, so when our journey of life ends, at least we can close our eyes satisfyingly knowing that every moment we would have lived was a brick toward happiness, and every moment we would have controlled builds toward beautiful memories. Therefore, if we enjoy our life, we have no fear. We grasp opportunities and try new experiences; we create meaningful things that others will thank and remember us for; most importantly, we can live with dignity. The quote gives the most accurate guidance on life. I am grateful to whoever innovated it on the Internet. I am grateful to myself for holding it dear as my motto since then. My life has been fruitful and productive. Eventually, I will die without regret.

We all know that students pay more than the tuition to go to college, but the fact that more people should know of is that international students pay even more. Not only do we pay more for the tuition, but we also pay more for everything else. To travel to the countries of destinations, we must gain at least two things, visa and plane tickets. To secure visas, international students must travel to the embassies first. We need to pay for the hotels, travel expenses, and food for this journey, yet we face the risk of rejection and having to go through this process multiple times. However, this is just a small fraction of our financial pressure outside of tuition. While domestic students can travel to school by car or train, international students often need to travel by plane. The plane tickets are never cheap. Especially under the pandemic, the price is only soaring up and the flight schedule can not be more confusing. My upcoming flight to JFK costs more than $3,400. The drive between the airport and the school will cost $300. Due to the poor arrangement of flights, I will arrive one day before the opening of the campus, so I have to stay in the hotel overnight, which costs $180. Taking these expenses into consideration, I aim to stay on campus without returning to visit my family in China for the next three years in college. In addition, unlike domestic students who enjoy shipping or bringing their luggage in cheaply, bringing one more international luggage across the border can cost the same as a trip for a domestic student. So to reduce our trouble, we have to purchase most of our items while we are in school. As a Chinese student, I bear much financial burden just because of it. The current exchange rate between RMB and US dollars is about ¥6.46 = $1. It appears that with about 6 RMB, I should be able to buy 1 dollars worth of goods; however, in real life, with 18 RMB, I can buy 1 dollars worth of goods. This is because the consumption power is different in the US and China. In other words, the same goods sold in the US are much more expensive than those in China. My parents earn money in Chinese Yuan and support me to spend them as US dollars. The money we have to not give us the number of goods we deserve in the US, thus I feel burdened to purchase in the US. It makes as much sense for American schools to charge international students for more tuition as it does not. To advocate for a drop in tuition or fairness in international monetary policy requires long-term work, but now I face enormous expenses to cover. Therefore, I need this scholarship to relieve my financial struggle. Thank you for your consideration.

I became acquainted with Dimyana Pelev in my art high school. Among the sneers and contempt I was immersed in, she was my light. Studying in a preprofessional art school, we were told repeatedly that we must strive for perfectionism or we will starve in the theatre industry. We knew that if our legs did not lift higher than the person next to us, we would not get the role; if we failed to improvise when we forget the moves, we would not be cast; if we could not sing up or down to the note the director wanted us to, we were not wanted. Though we could work to achieve these skills, there were things we may not change, for example, our appearances. “You are not what you are; you are what you look like,” said the Theatre Department Chair, who held this sentence dear as her motto in her theatrical career. I was an obese and short Asian female, so one look at me was enough for her to determine, “Lumeng, you are only castable as a school mom; there are seldom musicals or straight plays that cast Asians, so it may be difficult for you to make ends meet as an actress.” She said it in front of the whole class, mostly consisted of skinny white and blonde beauties. Since then my peers joined her opinion and decided that I was not a good actress to work with, for I did not have the shape or skin color that was desired, no matter how hard I worked. I had been taking classes with Dimyana since my first year in that school. She was a bright lady who always spoke with a jolly, warm smile and positivity. Unlike others who adored to critique me for being who I was, she was usually the one faculty who praised me for the skills I had. While others were busy overlooking me in the theatre department, she was busy looking for musicals that I was likely to be cast in and repertoires that fitted my vocal range. Different from every theatre faculty I studied with, she was the only one who encouraged her students to “look out for each other.” “You are competitors; but companionship and interdependence come first,” so she said. After the department chair diagnosed my condition, I felt extremely depressed. Acting was my passion. My family spent 80% of their income to send me to this prestigious art high school so I could pursue my dream, but it was instead broken into pieces. Should I blame the department chair and everyone else who laid a finger on me? Perhaps not, because they just expressed a prevalent bias toward actresses like me. Then who was to blame? I thought that left me the only person. I thought about leaving school. While I was planning on escaping from that boarding school, Dimyana joined me for meals frequently. She must have noticed that something was off. She told me that everyone was unique, myself included. The current theatre industry may hold hostility toward me, and only the learned artists may stop the hate. After several conversations, I was convinced to stay and move forward in my education. I understood that if I stopped fighting, I lost immediately; as long as I kept fighting, I still had a chance to win. Dimyana was my guardian angel throughout high school. She drove me to pursue higher education. Standing where I am, studying human rights advocacy and fine arts in college, I always hold gratitude to her. She was my superhero.

I want to continue to pursue higher education because it is a necessary step to accomplish my passion - to become an international lawyer who offers legal aid to my community. Law has always been my passion, but my focus on international law and legal translation started rather recently. Due to my enthusiasm and my international education background, I paid attention to international suits. I realized that Chinese parties are likely to lose against foreign parties. Analysts frequently proposed the following reasons for our loss: either the party was not familiar with the rules in the international court, or the translation was poor and improperly delivered. Nowadays, we hear more and more about the state’s call for the education of Chinese international lawyers and attention to the gap that those professionals need to fill. Indeed, the profession of attorney only emerged in the 20th century in China. Given that even the history of this career path is short, the development of international attorneys specifically lands inevitably in the beginning stage. I see the urgent need from my country, thus I shall fulfill her wish to show my gratitude for her love and protection. To make my dream come true, I must pass the bar exam in the US. Only those who graduated from the law schools in the American Bar Association (ABA)’s list are eligible to take this exam; and to enter one of those graduate programs, I must enroll in an undergraduate program to prepare for LSAT. This is the primary reason that I decided to continue to pursue higher education. In the meantime, I fill my free time with extracurricular activities that are in the legal arena or may help me to offer aids to others. I have been a volunteer in “Legal Aid: Make Dreams Come True” Service Team for two years. In this team, the volunteers recruit current lawyers as lecturers to bring free legal education to the working class in my hometown. Based on the audience’s feedback, we analyze and draft legalization proposals to the local government; I am also the Vice-Captain of another service team in town for three years. Our focus is to provide free entertainment and food to the poor, seniors, and disabled. In this team, I learned how to raise fundings and organize social events. Due to my diligent contributions to my community, I was honored with the title “Good Citizen of Yantai.” These experiences render me insights into what it is like to offer legal aid and what my fellow people need. I am proud of the community service I performed, for I made my hometown a better place. If I can be an international lawyer, I will continue to offer legal aid to Chinese citizens. By then, my advice would be professional and helpful. I will do my best to avoid losing cases because of my lack of knowledge of the international court or my inaccurate interpretation of the texts. The minimum I can do is to ensure that the cases are debated fairly, so that equity is ensured. In addition, to those who may not afford to hire an international lawyer, I will be willing to offer my service for free. This is how I can give back to the people who raised me and cultured me. I will fearlessly march toward my goal to make my dream and my motherland’s dream come true.

My Instagram ID is yang37l. I am proud to be asexual and panromantic just as I am proud to be like any human being. The sexual and romantic orientations do not define us - we define who we are. I like being who I am, and there is no reason not to be proud of it.

I want art to be accessible to everyone in the world. Art is entertainment that educates. Any topic can be discussed within freely. Often a change in the real world emerges from an art piece. I value education, and I appreciate the transformative power of art. Hence, I aim to make art truly priceless by removing the price tags from each and every one of them. I started thinking about this idea since I was in high school. My major was theatre and I was proficient in live performance. I observed that people in my hometown could not afford to come to live theatre performances because of the expensive price. While I wondered about how to utilize my artistic skills to relieve this issue, I was invited to join a local volunteering team with a focus on free entertainment. This service team’s goal is to provide free live show tours in my hometown. It receives funding from firms, so the local residents do not need to pay anything. Thanks to my skill in vocal, dancing, and acting, I was appointed as the Vice-Captain within the first month after joining. I felt happy that I finally found a place to devote my energy to making my dream come true. We rehearse choir, solos & duets, dance, and readings for festivals and special occasions. I am the vocal coach of the team, and I lead dances. I am really content with where I am. We tour and bring tents, chairs, and tables to set up outdoors as our performance space. We bring concerts and plays out of the theatre into our people. We also provide food during the performances, so the community members can eat while enjoying the shows. The fulfillment we feel is unmeasurable. The laughter, tears, and feelings we share with the audience are exactly what I hope to spread to a larger community. Every praise, every smile, and every word of gratitude drive us to move forward with better performances and larger capacity. The firms that fund us are pleased to see this positive feedback, so they fund us even more for success. In this way, our service team facilitates a friendly, loving place in my hometown. This work is my pride. I have been serving as an artistic volunteer for about three years so far. I treasure the memory I had on my team. By doing our work, we truly offered art without price to people who care about us and who we care about. We hope to influence more artists to follow our lead and contribute priceless arts to the world. Just starting from where we are and begin with benefiting the community that raises us would be effective. Eventually, the only price we pay for arts is love, and the art pieces will deliver this message to the viewers. The power of artistic education will reach everyone, and the art industry will no longer segregate the quality of art in the name of price or the class of audience in the name of affordability. I am making changes that will take civilization forward with a humanistic leap. Equality emerges from an idea; love emerges from the service teams; and the global impact emerges from an individual, just like me.

I want to make the financial aid system of colleges and middle schools in the US. transparent and flexible without discrimination, because as an Asian international student, I concern the dilemma my community faces. It is almost a well-known fact that Asian international students tend to have a higher score in entrance exams than other international students; so to keep the student body racially diverse, the admission committees tend to reserve seats for students who identify with other ethnicities, leaving Asian international students to compete more with themselves instead of fairly competing with everyone. I concede that this move may stabilize society and satisfy most racial groups. However, the hard call is left to us. To stand out in the applications, many Asian international students have to give up applying for financial aid during the application process, because we fear that schools favor selecting those who can pay for full tuition. Though admission committees often emphasize that they do not view applicants based on applicants’ financial situations, yet the words often appear unconvincing. Since Asian parents are likely to prioritize education over their financial pressure, they are willing to take in the financial struggle in exchange for admission letters. While some schools may allow students to apply for financial aids after they enrolled, most schools may not, so once students forgo the financial aid packages, their families will endure at least three to four years of financial hardship. Unfortunately, my family is one of them. Therefore, to gain this significant amount of funding from our families, we have to make deals with our parents. We are forced to study in majors that are “promising financially” in our parents’ eyes, but not those we necessarily like. They see our education as a costly investment, and if we want to go to school, we might as well make their investment “safe” and “rewarding.” Thanks to the impenetrable financial aid system, education becomes a luxury for Asian international students; it is something we have to trade off both money and dreams to attain. Reflecting on my own story and heeding from others, I decided to dive into the social movements against this unreasonable financial aid system. I want to erase the inherent discrimination in the grant for need-based scholarships, and I do it by taking baby steps. The first step is to change from my school. I have been actively participating in the student government to advocate for flexible financial aid plans and a transparent admission process. My goal is to let my school realize that students are suffering, and it is their responsibility to support us for our success. Moreover, I am seeking to collaborate with student leaders from other schools to protest for our interest, making tuition no longer a stopping sign for excellent applicants. These movements will make greater impacts as they roll. With my commitment, I hope to see the day when international students are just treated as any student, and what we deserve will truly come to us.

Imagination is my everything. To be capable of imagining is the gateway to creation. Without imagination, not only would human civilization progresses slowly, but also the world would be so dull to live in. Fortunately, my imagination has always resided in me. Thanks to this ability, I can discover, realize, and inspire. I use imagination in everything, but it is particularly maximized in my drawings. I am not necessarily good at drawing. I draw for its spiritual purpose. My stream of thoughts and the touch of the pencil guide me. I shall draw a line with curves and turns that fills the paper. I do not intentionally put a wave or a shape; I rather draw it blindly, without any judgment. Finally, the end of the line will meet its start point. The next step is to observe the flow of the line. With imagination, I make connections between the blank space and the line. Within, I see people, animals, plants, objects, and symbols. Then I present the figures more vividly by adding colors and lines to the original line. In the end, a quaint picture consisted of natural elements of the world is ready for display. As I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, I am not proficient at drawing. If I were to paint something with intention, often it does not look like the host at all, not even faintly. However, if I solely were to paint based on the figures that are there already, I can do a good job. This is an interesting hobby of mine. Every time I finish a painting like this, I feel less stressed and genuinely happy. It is also a great exercise for critical thoughts and thinking outside of the box. By applying similar logic to other aspects of my life, I am complimented by my peers that apparently Muse favors me, because I frequently innovate creative ideas for projects and inspirational solutions for problems. I hope more and more people allow their imagination to fly. It is not childish because children seem to be accustomed to it; it is not silly because we spend time and energy on something that does not exist. Imagination is a vision. We must daydream before making that dream come true. Imagination serves to practice our plans in our heads, thus enables a higher chance of success when the plans are implemented. Imagination is also a cure. Constantly enduring pressure from life, we need a safe space to release, relax, and find our true selves again. We seek sanctuary in imagination, a place where no one can hurt us, a harbor for the weary souls to rest. The link attached to this application leads to a painting of my imagination. I wish you find it entertaining. I encourage you to try drawing with your imagination as well. You will be amazed, because your imagination prepares an exciting journey ahead!

In my childhood, I very much feared and detested my mother. Her temper changed so quickly and so often that I perceived her as the most vivid living illustration of unpredictability. I also did not know what would trigger her anger - whether it was something apparently bad as breaking a cup, or something supposedly good as hugging her - all I knew was that anything I did risked infuriating her. She scolded me for trivial reasons, so I fought against her frequently because I did not understand what drove her to do that. After each fight, almost always, she came to me to apologize, saying she started the fight only because she felt overwhelmed and unsettled. She said I was a good kid. Her apologies sounded sincere, but not convincing enough to change her impression in my mind. I responded with silence. In the meantime, I asked myself questions that I could not answer: why should I be pushed back when I try to kiss her cheek? Why should I be slapped when I accidentally spilled soup on the counter? Why would my mother distance herself from me most of the time? The answer was revealed in a fight between my parents when I was nine years old. My father called my mother a psychopath, outcrying that her anxiety disorder has been a bad influence on the family. It was the first time I learned that my mother suffered from mental illness. Her perplexing actions were the symptoms. As soon as I felt sorry for her, I heard my father threatening to send her to the “madhouse.” The facility he referred to was a hospital that specialized in treating mental diseases, yet he intentionally chose to use “madhouse” as its name instead. In tears, my mother begged him not to do so. That night was restored in peace in less than an hour, but my father continued calling my mother “the psychopath” for several years. Since then, I have learned to cope with my mother’s condition. I have been aware that I should back off when she experiences anxiety: I ask before I want to kiss her; I apologize and clean up immediately after I taint the counter; I step away to give her space when she does not want me nearby. Most importantly, when she scolds me unreasonably, I just keep quiet and leave the room. She recovers as soon as her anxiety attack is over, then she comes to thank me for my respect. I provide her accommodations, but I hope she can be cured so her suffering can end for good, and mine as well. I asked her politely to visit counselors, but she would not go. It is easy to comprehend: if she goes, other people would know that she is mentally ill, and people with mental diseases in China are treated as the inferior class - they are a disgrace to their family, undesirable to their friends, criminals-to-be to the society. Even if they are cured, they still remain marginalized as the group of people who bring nothing but misery to people around them, just because they have a history. I realized that not just my mother needs help. There are thousands of people in China who have to endure their conditions silently. They rarely have anyone to confide in. They hide in the darkness; or rather, the popular consensus forces them into the darkest corner and leaves them to die. They all need help. If my mother is to be cured, society must be cured first. The sickness that resides in most Chinese people is called bias; the only effective treatment would be education. My goal is to contribute to the social movement that increases awareness for mental disease and respect for mentally ill patients. I wish to become an educator to erase Chinese people’s doubts and malice toward those who need help. I want to shout out to the world that mental disease is just like any other disease, and mentally ill patients are human beings, too. I will urge patients to seek help as soon as they are hurt, and encourage others to come to support as long as they are capable. The people left behind in the corners of the earth shall perish if not attended well, and I will warn the society that if we let this happen, when we become mentally ill, we shall perish miserably like them. I have faith in accomplishing this goal. My effort shall bring my mother and everyone else to the daylight.

Growing up, I have a very close bond with my community. I call the adults “uncles” and “aunts,” the elders “grandpas” and “grandmas,” and they refer to me as their daughter or granddaughter. Most of the residents in the neighborhood earn just enough income for living, and many of them do not have a degree above middle school. I would like to improve their life quality. Thus, starting from 2018, I devoted myself to two volunteer teams, the “Moral Vanguard” Service Team and the “Legal Aid Makes Dreams Come True” Service Team to make a change. The “Moral Vanguard” Service Team provides numerous services to the community. One service we often conduct is free entertainment, including but not limited to choirs, solos and duets, dances, instrumental performances, and readings. Most live performances in my hometown usually take place in theatres, where the ticket price is often too expensive to afford, thus our outdoor live performances are popular in the community. All volunteers in this team are capable of at least one kind of performing art. Coming from a preprofessional art high school, I was nominated to be the Vice-Captain of this team. With experience in music, dance, and theatre, I assist volunteers as a vocal coach and a director. Another major service we conduct is festival celebrations. In traditional festivals, we provide free food and drinks of that festival to impoverished residents, elders who lost support from their children, workers earning minimum wage, and the disabled. We also accompany the feast with live performances. In addition to traditional festivals, we establish our own festivals. These events include providing monthly free haircuts to elders and the disabled, monthly free meals to the low-income populations, mung bean soup to sanitation workers in summers and hot tea in winters. Other services we perform vary. We direct traffic, clean streets and buildings in the neighborhood, deliver speeches to students, visit patients in hospitals. Our team is often reported and praised in local newspapers and on social media. We are adored by our community, and our team is growing stronger with more people joining. It is fulfilling to see the residents’ thumbs up and smiles. They are grateful for our service, and we are honored to know that we serve them well. The “Legal Aid Makes Dreams Come True” Service Team focuses on promoting legal education to the community. As volunteers, we design presentations on the latest news on legislation on policies and distribute books and readings to increase the citizens’ legal awareness. Our team also consists of experienced lawyers as lecturers. Together we bring legal aid and free consultancy to the construction sites, streets, and people’s homes. Our goal is to prepare the working class against potential exploitation from their employers, decrease the number of accidents, and improve workers’ satisfaction. Our work is often discussed in the news as well. We have been receiving great feedback. This is the most compelling reason that drives us to continue our service. Going forward, I wish to expand the size and influence of our service teams to help more people. I also wish to start a Circle K International branch in the local university to bring more college students to community service. With growing attention to the local public welfare, I believe we will establish a more supportive community for everyone soon.

Playing chess is profoundly beneficial to me in making life choices. It teaches me to have a clear end goal, be quick to adapt to the changing situation, and acknowledge that giving up certain chess pieces could be a wise move sometimes. Firstly, in playing chess, our end goal is clear - to knock down the opponent’s king. Every move we make is orientated around this goal. In life, the process is the same: we want to establish a clear goal before making moves. The order matters. Without knowing where we want to be, every effort is just futile. Only applying our limited energy and time to the things we care about can maximize our gains. Secondly, chess players are sensitive to changing situations and adapt to be the winner. In life, this is called survival of the fittest. In terms of achieving success, we should be aware that the routes to it are constantly changing. We need to pay attention to the habits of our opponents, attack on their vulnerabilities, and avoid confronting their strengths. Finding the pattern is important, and quickly responding to changes in patterns is even more crucial. Consumer’s verifying needs should also be taken into consideration, so we can alter the service provided to suit them. To conclude, flexible tactics help us to win in every circumstance. Thirdly, chess players sacrifice chess pieces in exchange for the greater win. Economically speaking, it is a question of opportunity cost. If we believe that one route is a dead-end, we might as well give it up to defend something more valuable. In the game of chess, it is almost inevitable to not lose a chess piece, yet because all we care about is to become the winner, we should not be so greedy in protecting every single chess piece in order not to lose the entire game. Many people take years to learn these lessons, but chess players become accustomed to them fast. This is the gift chess renders me. I hereby appreciate my experience with playing chess. My end goal in life is to become an international lawyer. I am diligently working toward it. I have taken the following steps: the first step is double-majoring in Economics and International Relations in college to have a sufficient understanding of economics and politics, for they are great supplements to work sustainably in the field of international law. The second step is taking courses from the Philosophy department to strengthen critical thinking skills in preparation for the LSAT, the entrance exam for law schools. The third step is studying French on my own because I sense the need from the French market for legal translators. If French legal translators become less desirable in the future, I will consider studying another language to become competitive. The fourth step is interning at law firms to establish a strong resume and finish a core requirement of the NEXUS certificate of Law, Public Policy, and Human Rights in my college. Last but not least, I spend the summers studying for LEC (Legal English Certificate) exam to officially become a legal English translator. These steps are interlocked, facilitating each other into completion. After I finish law school and pass the bar, then I can serve as an international lawyer in China and the US. I could hardly make this plan without the skills chess teaches me. If I were to add one more goal in my life, I wish to promote chess education to the future generation. I want people to join me in thinking like chess players and succeed in life.

One of the greatest things 2020 taught me was to always hold gratitude. The pandemic brought misery to this world. People lost jobs, opportunities, loved ones, and even their own lives. However, if I should respond to this essay prompt honestly, I must say that my life was not negatively affected as much as it could be, thanks to those who have been protecting us from further harm. In March 2020, my high school sent all students home and to resume learning online. I went to the airport and was glad to see people wearing masks and staff urging strict sanitation policies on the customers. After arriving in my home country, I was quarantined in a hotel for free for two weeks, thanks to the great compensation policy the Chinese government published. After the quarantine, I reunited with my family members. They were doing okay. None of them lost their jobs. Some of them even devoted themselves to teaching sanitation procedures to the local community. I felt fortunate because my family and I were not severely damaged by the pandemic. I also felt grateful that we have fighters that prevent the circumstance from getting worse. It was the first time I realized that I am so blessed to be fed, clothed, and safe. The other greatest thing 2020 taught me was to make the best out of any situation. It does not hurt to look on the brighter side; in fact, it may help. The quarantine process can be lonely, however, it can be a great time for self-reflection and improvement. Suffering from obesity since I could remember, I took this time to work out and put myself on a healthy diet plan. Starting from April 2020 to the present, I have lost almost 80 pounds, landing my weight in a normal range. My family and I are very pleased to see the change: I can now dress in clothes that I used to dream of; I move faster with stronger muscles. To conclude, the impact 2020 rendered me is transformational. Learning much nutrition knowledge during my process of weight control, I plan on starting a career in helping others to control their weight and establish good living habits. I plan on writing a book to share my experiences. In this book, alongside perspectives in assessing our body, I want to encourage people to critically examine their issues, have gratitude for what they have, and strive to make the best out of the given situation.

Growing up as an asexual, panromantic girl in a conservative Chinese neighborhood is hard. My family has been deciding on what kind of man I should be married to almost since the day of my birth. In their view, the best life a woman can have is to be married to a reliable man and have many children; there is no other way around. I have never been interested in sex, and very likely never will, thus my family’s expectation for me to “keep our genes alive forever” is a lot of pressure. I know they have a phobia toward the LGBTQ+ community, so I can not come out to them, for fear of being driven out from my family and cut off from the resources they provide. I admit. I am a coward. I do not dare to leave everything behind to search for a new life in which I am not a freak, a new place where I am accepted. I linger on the love my family still has for me, though I have to constantly pretend that I am heterosexual. Yet I need to confide, so the piano in our apartment became my only friend, at least for a long time. I pour my emotion onto the keyboard. When the melody flows from my fingertips, every single one of them is telling my story, and I have been patiently waiting for someone, who would just magically show up in my life, to hear my songs and distinguish my outcry. This is a fantasy, I assume. However, after I finish playing, I do feel much better emotionally and physically. Perhaps seeking help from a counselor would yield a similar outcome; maybe talking to a friend would do the same, but in truth, music provides something special -- it empowers me from within; even to some point, through years of playing, I become braver in confronting malice toward the LGBTQ+ community, and I feel the day that I am strong enough to be myself in front of my family is coming closer. I went to an art high school to pursue a music education. There, I become interested in playwriting and accompanying for musicals. However, witnessing many LGBTQ+ actors being “not castable” in numerous productions, a strong desire emerges in my mind: I want to write musicals for the LGBTQ+ community. We should not be suppressed and discriminated against anymore. I want to shout this out to the world through my art. To do that, I planned on honing my piano playing skills and further my theatrical education in college. However, later my family informed me that they would no longer financially support me to do anything related to music or theatre in college because they believe that I should spend this time on majors that can find me jobs with handsome pay. I am perfectly aware of the holes in their logic, but I do not have the power to defy them yet. Therefore, along with academic studies, I spend much time training myself in playing piano and composing music. Without a teacher for guidance, the progress is slow. I have been doing part-time jobs to save for piano lessons, but there would be a long time before the number is reached. I apply for this scholarship to seek support in funding my musical education and career. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Music navigates me through the hard times, and I firmly believe that it will be a game-changer in my life. Thank you for your consideration.

My role model is my father. He is always so generous and easy-going to most people, but for those who he cares about, his image is synonymous with self-discipline, hard work, and perfectionism. These key factors made him who he truly is, established his success, and became lessons he only teaches to those he loves dearly. My father grew up in an impoverished village in Shandong Province, China. When he was twelve, my grandmother died of a sudden heart attack. It was the first time my father learned that there is potentially generic heart disease in the family bloodline, and a person can die so quickly without even a sign. Shortly after my grandmother’s death, my grandfather fell off a short cliff and became paralyzed. The only labor force in the family was lost and the eldest son was studying in another city, which left the burden of making ends meet to the youngest two sons, including my father. After going through a series of traumas, my father was perfectly aware of the importance of time: if he did not do anything for one day, his family would starve; if he did not work on changing the circumstance for one day, his family could all die very soon. Hence, he studied hard at school, and when he was free, he worked on the farm to provide food for his family. To pay for the treatment my grandfather received in Shanghai, the brothers sold their house and lived on the street, begged for food all the way to Shanghai to visit my grandfather. Eventually, due to financial pressure, he was forced to give up school to work in a factory. However, he knew he should not be content with the low-paying job for the rest of his life; so while he was running machines, he read law textbooks. He often cut his fingers because he was so focused on self-studying for the bar. His hard work paid off -- he passed the bar before 20 years old and became a practitioner when he was 20. He started his own firm at age 24. Now his income is more than 1,125th times his original salary. With the wealth he owns, people wonder why he still works hard and grasps every opportunity. He replies with the same thing he has been telling me over and over again, “who knows when is the end of our lives? If there is something you want to do or someone you want to become, take action now! So when you bid farewell to the world, you can proudly say, ‘at least I tried.’ If you are lucky enough to live to see your success, you can be even more proud to say, ‘what do you mean that destiny is doomed to fail me? Destiny is a fake concept!’” Growing up, learning by his side, I know this monologue by heart. The key takeaway from his words, I conclude, is his attitude toward challenges: the challenge is the game and I am the hunter. While I wait, I prepare for the greatest game; when the opportunity arrives, I never let it slip away; and if the game is beyond my ability to catch, I still go for it, because in the end, I can proudly say, “at least I tried.” This family spirit supports me in every aspect of life. I take advantage of every opportunity at my sight. For example, I feel there is space for improvement in student life, so I take on leadership roles in the student government to vouch for student concerns; I see there are people in need in my community, I dive into community service to ease up their hardship. I do encounter failures, but they can hardly be considered as setbacks because people have witnessed me trying, thus I have already made an impact, a step closer to where I want to be. I have a dream of making positive changes to our community, and I hope not to fight alone. Thus, I will continue preaching my belief to people around me, persuading them to join me, and encouraging them to bring out their best in every day of their lives. I am to facilitate the creation of “non-believers of destiny.” I want to convince others that we are the authors of the book of life, thus take the liberty to create and alter! If we want everything in our best interest, so let it be! There is no time for hesitation, but only to march forward until our struggles are over, our needs are met, and our dreams come true.

Everyone is an artist. Whether it is arranging dishes on the dinner table, picking up flowers and decorating them in the hair, or simply talking to others and making an impact -- as long as we make a change, we create art; but to summarize, the way we become artists is by interacting with the world. In the process, we leave traces and memories. We take what is presented from each other, hold on to it tight, then live the rest of our life for it. I am an artist. I am a playwright, an actress, a singer, a dancer, and a piano player. My grandmother is an artist. She cooks for the family day and night. She always puts meat, one of my favorite food, on the vegetable dishes to give me a good appetite. Essentially, there is no difference between us. The work we perform brings some warmth, some thought, something worthy to be remembered years after its creation. This is what artists do. I am a romantic person. Art is my romance. For instance, when I sing, I sing my heart out, both to please myself, and most importantly, to tell stories to the audience. I tell the stories of the song with accurate and vivid performance. I tell the stories of me with my interpretation. I show the audience my unique interactions with the world. By the end of the day, I will leave the stage satisfied knowing my story is told, and the audience will leave the concert entertained by a romantic experience with the art itself. This is what motivates me to advance in my artistic journey. My grandmother, likewise, is a romantic person. Her romance lies in always making progress in culinary arts to please me, who is often her only audience. Her dishes tell the stories we share. After each meal, I appreciate her food, and she appreciates me for my compliments. Our arts make our life better. My song might motivate an audience to be hopeful of his life. My grandmother’s cuisine urges me to always come back home no matter how far I go. I can not imagine a life without art - how coldblooded, lack of attachment it would be! To spend a life lonesome and to have no emotional comfort are the cruelest. If that is the case, what is the point of life? I am capable of many forms of art, but in terms of what I wish to do for future generations, I want to teach them how to establish a romantic life with warmth, thought, and precious memories. I want to be their mentor to encourage them to do what they like and love their life passionately for it because happiness should be the only pursuit for everyone. Specifically, I would like to introduce art to future generations; I would like to help them recognize the art in their everyday lives; I would like to guide them to find beauty and meaning in their occupations and responsibilities. When they are surrounded by art, when they are creating arts, when they are passing down arts to their children, they would have attained happiness and eternal peace inside. Here is a link to my singing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NOW46KIkaQIDK3QyDrPpgKTynXocTOxy/view?usp=sharing

When I was a child, I did not know same-sex love exists. I constantly felt attracted to girls, but I did not understand it. I thought there must be something wrong with me. Perhaps I felt attracted to them as best friends, but the feeling appeared much more passionate than friendship. I had no clue about what was happening to me. When I went to middle school in the US, I learned that there was a group of people who identify as pansexual. I thought perhaps this was where I should be categorized - I can like anybody regardless of their genders. I felt very happy that I found my niche. It was a relief to know that my love for girls was not a concerning condition at all. However, when I was asked if I feel sexual arousal when I see nudity, I could not explain why I never feel it. To me, the human body parts are just body parts. I perceive them just as I perceive any animals’ bodies - they are just there, nothing so exciting about it. It was only until recently after I entered college that I learned that sex and romance are separate concepts, which explains that I am highly likely to be asexual and panromantic at the same time. Hence, this is where I am right now. In the journey of discovering who I am, the more I dive into gender studies, the more I know about myself. Not even for a second did I feel sorry or disgust for my sexual and romantic orientations - I very much enjoyed realizing who I am. The process of searching for my identity is my way of loving myself. Though I had a fairly smooth transition in embracing my identity, my family did not, and still do not. Living in a homophobic family can be challenging, but the obstacles imposed only motivate me to make a difference in raising awareness and respect for the LGBTQ+ community. If we want others to respect us, we must have confidence and dignity in ourselves. I plan to start with being active in the LGBTQ+ student organizations in promoting our interest, and my long-term goal is to study gender-related laws in law school to become an international lawyer with a focus on helping LGBTQ+ clients, especially from my home country, where discrimination toward us pervades. I hope more and more LGBTQ+ people can come to the light and express ourselves. Before we feel comfortable doing this, I will contribute my utmost effort to create a safe, friendly, and respectful environment for us all.

I spent most of my life struggling with obesity. By the time I was 19, obesity had threatened my normal way of life, so I started to lose weight. What has been concerning me both before I lost weight and after I successfully lost weight is the stereotype people impose on me. Before I lost weight, my friends told me that I can never enter a romantic relationship with my current shape. They argued that if I do not have an attractive body, it is difficult to leave others with a good first impression, thus prevents people from being interested in me. I disagreed with their opinions, but since obesity has brought too much pain to my body, I started to lose weight by eating healthily and working out. During this process, my friends saw my progress. Then they told me that I must be losing weight to attract men. I was furious because firstly, there is no direct association between body shape and romantic relationships; secondly, it is disgusting to even think about putting females in the position of appeasing males by defining what beauty is according to their standard. After making their repulsive comment, they added where they thought still “needs work on.” They pointed at my legs and critiqued that they are too thick, at my breast for being too small, then at my hips for being too droopy. They said, “you should work on these parts,” then left feeling they have just given valuable life advice to someone who should appreciate them for initiating a huge change. Since then, I chose to respectfully leave my original circle to stay away from the toxic opinions. After I lost weight, my shape becomes averages, maybe even “attractive” in the stereotypical definition for beauty, but the critiques never stop. My elder family members, affected by traditional Chinese values, ask me to gain weight because they believe that being slim means bad fortune. Some of my parents’ friends came to my parents to discuss whether they will marry me to one of their boys because my “upper body now becomes elegant, and the hips are prettier but still thick, which is a great sign for fertility.” I am very much offended by both the critiques and aggressive “compliments.” I realize that people keep wanting to put tags on me and discuss me as if I were a commodity. I ran away from my original friend circle, but I can not run away from the malice of the world. I just want to peacefully be myself, which is unfortunately hard. Reflecting on my experience of losing weight, I concluded that I must put myself out there and fight! I am not the only female experiencing body shame. No matter what shape we are in, we almost can not avoid being judged. There is no way to live up to everyone’s standards, and we should not need to. We can no longer stand the pressure and discrimination forced upon women. With these beliefs in mind, I am on my way to becoming a social advocate for gender equity, taking pride in being who we are, and empowering feminism. My first step was successful: I was admitted into Mount Holyoke College, the first women’s college in the US, where I perceive as one of the original sparks of feminism. In the meantime, I have been active on social media to promote anti-body shame, and I plan on joining in-person social movements for females once the pandemic is under control in the US. I will contribute my utmost effort in making a change, and I hope to lead social movements that will promote feminist awareness and eliminate stereotypes of women in the future.

There are two reasons for my desire in joining law school and becoming a lawyer: the first one is that I want to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in China; the second one is that I want to establish better legal translation education in China. For my first motive, since I am asexual and panromantic, I am very sensitive to the discrimination Chinese society imposes on the LGBTQ+ community. There is a considerable size of LGBTQ+ population in China, but most of us have to stay masked. We pretend we are heterosexuals in job interviews because many firms intentionally avoid hiring LGBTQ+ people; we pretend we are heterosexuals in schools, or many faculties would imply for us to withdraw, even send us to “special facilities” to “correct” our sexual and/or romantic orientations; we pretend we are heterosexuals to our families because many families are so conservative that they would cast homosexuals out of the household and consider them as shame. These discriminations occur because we are not acknowledged properly by law in China. In fields of sexual assault, retirement plans, and almost every important aspect of life, the LGBTQ+ community is often overlooked. While Taiwan province announced to legalize LGBTQ+ marriage, mainland China shows no reaction. Many of our people suffocate in this silence. I want to change this situation. By studying gender-related laws in the US, I can gain insight into what other states are doing to ensure LGBTQ+ rights, then I would like to suggest similar legalization in the Chinese government. My second motive in studying in American law school is closely related to my first one. To interpret western gender-related policies, I must have a good understanding of legal English; to educate Chinese citizens on these concepts, I must convert them into Mandarin. Thus, the study of legal English is crucial. Legal English education is extremely weak in China. In order to promote awareness and respect of the LGBTQ+ community, I can study legal English, but I can not fight alone; therefore, while assisting my LGBTQ+ clients in the future, I hope to educate more Chinese lawyers on legal translation and encourage them to study western legal systems in depth so to improve our domestic legal system together with me. The goals I discussed are long-term and challenging, yet someone must be the vanguard. I would volunteer to be the breakthrough in making the series of revolutions realize in China. I am willing to do anything to bring myself closer to the day of liberalizing all Chinese LGBTQ+ population, making us proud for being who we are, and saying eternal farewell to lack of legal support and any form of discrimination.