Applying for the First Round, November 2007

Colleges and Universities A-Z Deep Springs College
61

<p>I am finally entitled to post my music preferences!</p>

<p>I was driving (a skill I'm about as good at as SAT Math) to my school band concert when my mom answers the cellphone and "oh he'll be so excited". Instantly I knew, DS had called!</p>

<p>I couldn't stop smiling all night. I smiled so much my cheeks started hurting and those of you that play a brass instrument know that starting a concert with a sore face isn't good!</p>

<p>I'm so excited!</p>

<p>Currently the band I'm listing to the most is the Who. I'm trying to gain something meaningful from Tommy...</p>

<p>Other Favorite Bands/ artists:</p>

<p>Neil Young (my hero)
Bob Dylan
Carole King
The Rolling Stones
The Kinks
Led Zeppelin
The Beatles
Johnny Cash
Clapton
Pink Floyd
Van Morrison
Spottiswoode and His Enemies**</p>

<p>These are really just the mainstays of my music life. I love old blues and jazz and pretty much anything. The only kinds of music I don't like are hardcore rap, songs about supermaning hoes and the like, and country.</p>

<p>**Those of you that are into experimental music, check out Spottiswoode and His Enemies. They are simply amazing. Their sound goes from gospel to French drinking song (and everything in between) and have thought provoking, interesting lyrics to back it up.</p>

<p>Edit: I play guitar and (French) horn well and lots of other stuff not so great.</p>

62

<p>That just convinced me to listen to Tommy again; great music and a really interesting (though slightly disturbing) story. If you think that's meaningful though, check out The Wall (if you haven't done so yet.) The story is much less linear and much more difficult to follow, but it may just be the deepest and best concept album ever created so far (in terms of story and philosophy.) </p>

<p>If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!</p>

<p>And you may want to listen to Lucinda Williams (I'd recommend car wheels on a gravel road) to become convinced in country music. It's actually a bit different from the traditional flock, but is awesome. :)</p>

63

<p>Congratulations, davn... this is getting awkward. Can we call each other by real names? I don't want to arrive at the interview and see some of you and say "Oh hey it's OAGr!"</p>

<p>I'm Luc.</p>

<p>But yes, congratulations! I had a feeling it'd pull through. It seems like everybody here has gotten an affirmative answer. Round II is scaring any sensible thought out of me already. I can't imagine how much of a letdown it might be to get rejected past this point after so much work already. But pessimism sucks!</p>

<p>My essays were pretty tame comparatively to what's been mentioned. Essay 1 was basically about my so-far college experience, Essay 2 was about a new school of philosophy I've been divining, and Essay 3 was me basically textually masturbating about Deep Springs.</p>

<p>I don't play any music, but I really want to pick up the ukulele, for what that's worth. That or the banjo.</p>

<p>How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?</p>

64

<p>Malkmus is the king of it.
(I got to see him this summer at... Pitchfork fest)</p>

<p>Cool, I work for an NPR syndicate over the summers.</p>

65

<p>I am J. Michael Eugenio</p>

<p>Essay 1
Vignettes of scenes that represent the influences that have helped to define me
Essay 2
Pretty much a "this is not an essay" in which I tried to discover the creator of meaning, aslo including two pieced of my own created meaning to disect
Essay 3
An abstract scene from my 'future'</p>

<p>Congratulations to all that have made it thus far.</p>

<p>On a music-listening note...
Today in my Leadership and Art AP class I played Zaireeka (Flaming Lips). I am also holding a listening party this weekend. My relationship with the album over the past 5 or so years has led it to become one of my most enjoyable listens.</p>

66

<p>My real name is David.</p>

<p>Yeah the Wall is an amazing album also. Goodbye Blue Sky is one of my favorite songs. Its just that its too "out there" for me right now. I need the straightforward, angsty Who sound in my current state of stressedoutness. My current "turn it up real loud and sing along to relieve stress" album, and IMO the greatest live album ever, is The Who: Live at Leeds. Its got awesome live versions of Young Man Blues, Substitute, Summertime Blues, Shaken All Over, My Generation, and Magic Bus. </p>

<p>Essay 1- Narrative about growing up. I tried to be funny and focused on weird games my sister and I played, odd child obsessions of mine, ect. The ending was terrible I was running out of time and exceeded the limit and it ended up sappy. Def. my least favorite essay.</p>

<p>“Essay” 2- An introductory paragraph about how language affects perception and how intelligent language is shunned in favor of quick communication nowadays. The I had a long rhyming poem about how text messaging is basically gonna ruin the world (: </p>

<p>Essay 3- By far my favorite. Bear with me because this is going to sound convoluted. It focused on the two sides of my personality “David” and “Caveman”. David is a normalish kid, big into music, leadership stuff at school, MUN ect. Caveman’s (and yes, though 5’5” and 120 lbs., I actually have the nickname Caveman) biggest hobbies are primitive technology (think making arrow heads, fire from sticks, ect.) and leather working. David wants to be a diplomat and caveman wants to be an anthropology prof. It then went on as a hypothetical conversation between my two sides in the future and they argue the merits of their careers. Then they agreed that DS was the right place for them to go to school. And the conclusion was a more typical “why DS” type essay. Really, it wasn’t as bizarre as it seems. </p>

<p>Also, does anyone want to share essays now that we have made it to round 2? I just want to get to know what other people who are interested in Deep Springs might be like!</p>

<p>Haha, Luc- you should play the banjolele. It basically what would happen if a banjo and a ukulele had a baby; it’s defiantly one of the most ridiculous/ awesome things out there. Here is a picture of some weird guy playing one <a href="http://www.drones.com/images/skupin-banjolele.jpg%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.drones.com/images/skupin-banjolele.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>PS- Has anyone received part 2 yet? Either via email or reg. mail?</p>

67

<p>Whoops, I forgot to mention a crucial part of my application.</p>

<p>Since my essays and hobbies list mentioned leather working, I made a leather folder to send my app in. I tooled the the upside down "T" brand into the leather with a floral pattern. It turned out nice and I hope I get to see it again! I'd post a pic, but I don't know how how.</p>

68

<p>I have not heard back yet.</p>

<p>Though I would love to trade essays, if not only to understand more about one of the pieces in the great puzzle of society. </p>

<p>My email address is as follows:
<a href="mailto:themichaeleugenio@yahoo.com">themichaeleugenio@yahoo.com</a></p>

69

<p>Post us a link through an internet picture hosting site... I am very intrigued.
Ex. Image</a> hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket</p>

70

<p>Wow. This really is the best board/ topic I've ever seen on here. </p>

<p>Malkmus ist rad, I learned of the banjolele, and half of next years' class may be on here. A few more and we'd be competing directly with each other :(</p>

<p>My name is Ozzie (OAG are my initials, the r is for Web 2.0 status.) I'd like to trade essays - my main (long) one hasn't been shown to anyone else outside of Deep Springs and my English teacher, because most of the kids/ teachers here wouldn't care much for it or would argue with it. My other two are fairly standard in structure.</p>

<p>Actually, one major part of my application was with my resume as well. I did it in Photoshop in a creative format. My teachers/ friends are split over weather it was cool or a complete waste of time. I don't know how much it helped, but I like it. Ask and I'll send you a link to it on Photobucket- I'm a bit cautious about posting it directly on the intertubes though.</p>

<p>Checking my email on the hour for information on part 2...
But I'll try to get Zaireeka and Live at Leeds to help pass the time.</p>

<p>And I might as well recommend another album you guys (hehe... literally) may like- The Band, by The Band. "Historic" music that was said to rival the Beatles for the time.</p>

71

<p>And just as I finished that post, I checked my email and it came!</p>

<p>Essay topics are incredible; far more interesting than those of the other colleges I'm applying to and exceeding anything I've done in High School for that matter (this is as sad for the school as it is good for Deep Springs.) </p>

<p>For the interviews, I'd like to meet some of you, but do you think it could be a bad thing if several of us went there at the same time? I'm not sure how long the interviews are and it may be better to try to spread out if we can. </p>

<p>I can't wait.</p>

72

<p>Yap, the emails are out everyone, check it out.</p>

<p>Oh, and just so you know OAGr, you need four stereos to listin to Zaireeka, it is simply that powerful (otherwise pretentious).</p>

<p>I would love to be sent a link to your resume, and access to your essay. You can PM me or email me at previously mentioned address. I would also gladly reply with my essay(s).</p>

<p>Also these essay questions are going to dominate my life for the next month.</p>

73

<p>Also, good news, there have only been 32 emails thus far... best of luck to all.</p>

74

<p>Mike, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the remaining 8 round II contestants simply don't have an email address. ;)</p>

<p>Speaking of which, the round II app. certainly seems daunting, though incredibly interesting. I have an issue with the graded essay part though, since I don't remember if I've saved any essays from high school (and all the ones I've done in college suck). And it sucks that I'm not really going to get to start working on the essays until after Christmas since finals projects have been consuming me since November and I still have a solid week to go.</p>

<p>I assume we're going to receive more information on the interview and visit in the mailing, correct?</p>

<p>And I can't say this enough, but good luck, gentlemen.</p>

75

<p>I too am amazed by the number of responses here about Round II. It’s great to see so many people so passionate about this amazing school!</p>

<p>My essays seem pretty conventional in comparison to some of those described here. Nothing special in the way of formatting (just straight, paragraph-style essays). I threw out my original drafts, and ended up doing everything late at night/early in the morning in the three days before the application was do (I wonder how the constant darkness affected my essays?). </p>

<p>Essay 1 (by far the longest)
I compared growing up to a conversation, stressing the importance of books throughout. I talked about how the early influences of philosophy (Plato and Aristotle, mostly), cult horror cinema, and experimental music gave me a unique perspective in high school as I started hanging in more traditional, pragmatic circles of people. I talked about Model UN (Dave, you and I have something in common here ; )), Mock Trial, spending the summer in a rural Tanzanian village, and spending the next summer studying Swahili at UCLA. I tried to convey how the sum of my interests and experiences led me to want to serve others. I didn’t hold back, I tried to be true to myself, and as many of you Round IIer’s would probably agree, that’s the most important part of the DS application.</p>

<p>Essay 2
A defense of Arthur Miller’s modern conception of tragedy.</p>

<p>Essay 3 (only half a page, single spaced)
Talked about Paul Farmer, the physician, and the importance of initiative and purpose in education. </p>

<p>I’m interested in what everyone’s favorite books were.</p>

<p>I listed:</p>

<p>For the Time Being- Annie Dillard
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man- James Joyce
Norwegian Wood- Haruki Murakami</p>

<p>Nothing crazy. Through a friend at Carleton College who knows a DS transfer student, I heard a story about a kid who applied with a 1600, straight A’s, and listed Finnegan’s Wake as his favorite book. Ostensibly a primo candidate for DS, he was invited to Round II. When he arrived for his interview, the students of Deep Springs had just taken an entire course on the book, and focused on it in the interview. He was rejected! </p>

<p>A nice, scary story to usher in a scary month of essay writing. </p>

<p>By the way, my name is Jared. Good luck to everyone!</p>

76

<p>A boy is allowed to have some wishful thinking, no?</p>

<p>The Epic of Gilgamesh
Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
DSM-IV-TR by American Psychiatric Association
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Dubliners by James Joyce
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway</p>

77

<p>Here is a picture of the application cover.</p>

<p>

<a href="http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i71/davnasca/appcover1.jpg%5B/IMG%5D"&gt;http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i71/davnasca/appcover1.jpg

</a></p>

<p>Just got the round 2 email- good prompts! My printer is broke though... argh.</p>

<p>I'm significantly less stressed now though, I found out I got in to Chicago EA! Chicago has been my top choice (I don't even count DS on the same playing field... apples and oranges) since 10th grade. </p>

<p>I'm glad we get to send recs though, I was worried we wouldn't get to. The graded paper however... do you think it would be OK to send a creative writing assignment from last year? I feel that its my best piece of writing. Or should I sent a paper I wrote for anthrpology class?</p>

<p>Good luck to all!</p>

78

<p>Nice swingin' T, Dave. And congratulations on Chicago. You should look into that kind of work to send in for the creative portion of the round II application. I don't think you should worry about your graded essay, though, mine's going to probably be a two year old one, and well over 7 pages at that. It's one of the only As I got on an English paper during high school, oddly enough. Incidentally, that's one of the reasons I respect Deep Springs and their application so much, since I can still get a fighting chance at acceptance even though my high school grades were very mediocre, something I wouldn't get at any other top school. Which leads me to wonder why I'm applying to any more of them at all this winter, but whatever. Unfortunately, there aren't many schools of Deep Springs' caliber and repute that work the same way (though that makes the school all that more exciting and unique). </p>

<p>The interview bit scares me. I'm tempted to re-read a few books during the Christmas break to touch up on my literary knowledge...</p>

79

<p>Oooh, are we doing favorite books now? I listed these:
Against the Day – Thomas Pynchon
The Cannibal – John Hawkes
The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner
Sunstone – Octavio Paz
Invisible Cities – Italo Calvino
Basin and Range – John McPhee
I also wrote that I am perennially entrenched (read: super-interested, but super-confused) in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and Jacques Lacan's Ecrits. These subjects would be the most awesome (but also the most intimidating) to discuss in an interview, I think.</p>

80

<p>Wow- That's a really nice cover Dave. And congrats with Chicago.</p>

<p>My Favorite Books:
The Illumanitus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World by Ken Alibek
The Gospel of The Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson
My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla by Nikola Tesla
Moby Dick, or The Whale by Herman Melville
Jason and the Argonauts by Bernard Evslin
The Things they Carried by Tim O'Brien
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Lord of the Flies by William Golding</p>

<p>And I wrote that I started Gravity's Rainbow and am already sure It will go on here once I'm finished (though with my current schoolwork, this may be a while.) Congrats lankydenny for getting through Against the Day- I really am looking forward to that but think I'll try to read Ulysses and Finniga's Wake first. Sigh... absolutely no one in my school (besides some of the teachers) seems to know of James Joyce, Thomas Pychon, or Robert Shea/ Robert Anton Wilson. </p>

<p>By the way, J.Michael, did you actually read the entire DSM-IV-TR? I learned about the book in Psychology but was never encouraged to actually read it.</p>

<p>And as for my resume, I just decided to block out my information on it and post it here. I'm afraid it's not too impressive after the T, but it still took a lot of work.
Slideshow</a> of My Resume - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting</p>