9. Ivy League Admissions

Response to "Getting In" by Malcolm Gladwell.


After reading the article, the gist I got from it was that Ivy League tries to maintain their reputation by deliberating choosing people of not only better academic abilities but also personalities and even physical appearance, race and athletics. I thought academics and personalities are fairly reasonable. But appearances? These are not what a student can control! This makes the modeling agencies reference seem even more applicable.
Another very astonishing piece of information I found was the they the Ivy Leagues started the personality side of their evaluation because they did not want too many Jews in their university. They want to choose a group of people that, after they graduate, would further promote or maintain the name of the school.
In my several attendances to college fairs, I heard the word "fit" used pretty often in describing how the colleges choose their students, especially in the more prestige schools. The college admission counselors would say something like "we want to find students that fit the personality of our college". This is where the line between accepted and rejected become vague. What are the exact characteristics they want? They never pinpoint it. From this article, I figured one of the reason they never do is because it will make their selection process sound extremely unfair. 

8. Journal Writing: Finding Prosperity by Feeding Money - Harold Taw

Many people have unique traditions, like Taw's tradition of feeding monkeys every year on his birthday. List some traditions tat are unique to your family, to another you you belong to, or to you alone.


I do not think my family as any unique traditions (or not any that I can think of). My family is not one that is big on traditions. I use to care a lot about holiday traditions and would feel dejected whenever I fail to carry out a holiday tradition. My mom, however, is the spontaneous one and would only follow the tradition when she feels like doing so.
I will, however, elaborate on my family's story of the tooth fairy. I didn't get it for my very first tooth. I never heard about the story when my first tooth fell off. Neither did my parents. It was only until my kindergarten teacher read a story to us about tooth fairy that I finally learn about this new way of getting money. However, when I tried putting my tooth under the pillow, nothing happened. I asked my mother and had to tell her the story of the tooth fairy to finally got a 100NT under my pillow the next time, so I knew early on that the tooth fairy was not real. My sister, however, was lucky enough to get a 100NT bill the first time she put her fallen tooth under her pillow. She truly believed in the tooth fairy and the Santa Clause up until third grade. Before that, I had to help my parent keep the secret from my sister. The whole situation is pretty funny now that I think back to it, but at the time, I was really jealous that my sister got to live in the fantasy of Santa Clause and Tooth Fairies when I was deprived early on from those 'traditions'.

7. Journal Writing: The Chase - Anne Dillard

Why do you suppose Dillard remembers in such vivid detail the rather insignificant even she describes? What incidents from your childhood seem momentous even now?

Even though the event may not be an important one, the driver’s determination to chase down the kids to lecture them created a rather big impression on the author. It was not the event itself that was significant, but rather the ideas behind it. Who would go to such lengths as to run miles just to chase down kids and to lecture them on such a harmless event as throwing snowballs of passing cars? Most adults wouldn’t waste their time on such trivial childish games. The emotional ties behind the event are what caused the author to remember the event in such detail even until she was an adult. The sensation and pressure of being hunted after was intense. The author even described the driver as glorious for his actions because he out so much strength into getting his goal.

These memories of seemingly trivial events can be magnified by the emotions attached to it. I can still remember clearly the time when my sister locked me out in the gardens of our house because we had a fight. I can still remember the expression she had on her face, sneering at me through the windows, and the panic I felt. I can still recall banging on all the windows and doors trying to get people in the house to hear me. Unfortunately, it was a windy day, so the howling wind drowned by shouts behind locked windows and doors. I was let in after the maid heard my screams and hysterical crying. Till this day, the images and feelings are clearing imprinted in my mind.