<p>for the character i wrote about edna from the awakening and how she defied what a creole woman was supposed to be like, for routine i said breakfast with parents, and for gov't i wrote to my mayor about diversity education. i live an a veryy diverse community but different cultures rarely interact outside of school. </p>
<p>got deferred ed, and i am nervous that my supp essays may have been why. i thought they were great but perhaps they made me seem like i wouldnt fit at barnard, as i kind of discovered that latter on in the process. however, still would love to be accepted rd!</p>
<p>good luck everyone--- soo soon!</p>
<p>I had a b!tch of a time writing my barnard mini-essays because of the word limits. but anyway...</p>
<p>character: Carla, the counselor from There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. basically my career role model :-D</p>
<p>daily ritual: the only thing I do every day that wouldn't make me seem boring or lame was that I'd pop in and say hi to my gov't teacher while walking to 1st period. </p>
<p>gov't official: I forgot about this one! I said public transportation because around here it really blows (obviously I put more/better reasons than that on there :-P)</p>
<p>my favorite I think is my ritual one because it's more understated. least favorite = talk to politician because I had to cram a lot of crap in there all at once. my best one? none of them IMHO because of those gosh-darn freaking word limits. But their's weren't nearly as bad as Carleton's. Carleton's were ridiculous, like 150 words.</p>
<p>I absolutely LOVED the Barnard supplement. It was one of the few applications I had fun doing.</p>
<p>character: Maureen from RENT (reference to the musical not movie)
daily ritual: riding the subway (although, in theory now that I think about I only do this from Monday-Saturday, as Sundays are down time for me)
government official/important issue: global warming (trite, but written with passion)
why Barnard?: I managed to tie it in with Martha Stewart, the positive that is, because I am a closet Martha fan.</p>
<p>I can't remember if I've responded to this thread before...but anyway, I chose Joan Burke from "Bury the Dead," a character that I played for a one-act play. Joan can only think about herself when her boyfriend is killed at war, and I talked about how our own trivial matters can blind us to the suffering around us. For my ritual I talked about taking the time to step out the door in early evening and pause for a moment...pretty lame now that I'm reading it over. For my government official/important issue I talked about the importance of interfaith dialogue.</p>
<p>Character: Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, but I should have done Veronica Mars! Sadly, I wasn't watching the show at that time! I know Elle Woods seems like an unlikely candidate, but you really have to look below the surface.
Daily Ritual: Playing piano, I think
Government/important issue: The "wall" that was going to be built between ourselves and Mexico and how it would affect the environment.</p>
<p>Here is my Elle Woods essay:</p>
<p>As ridiculous as this may sound, Elle Woods from the movie "Legally Blonde" is a figure who has intrigued and inspired me. Here is a beautiful blonde-haired woman from Los Angeles with a degree in Fashion from CULA and a credit card
with daddy's name on it. She seems like the typical ditz. What most seem to not realize is that this "ditz" has a 4.0 GPA, is the president of her sorority, and also created "faux-fur" panties for a fundraiser. Although the movie seems simplistic, Elle is not. She is intelligent, cares about animals, and has an important leadership role within her community.</p>
<p>While it is true that she initially goes to Harvard Law to get her boyfriend back, most observers gloss over the fact that she scored a 179 out of a possible 180 on her LSAT. Neither daddy's money nor her good looks gave her that score. It was through diligent study and the rallying support of her sorority sisters that she achieved success.</p>
<p>Once accepted at Harvard, she faced more adversity--this, from her fellow students. "Law school is for people who are boring and ugly and serious," her father warned. Perhaps it was true- they did not seem to have Elle's fondness for pink! Amazingly, she is chosen for an internship by a prestigious law firm (we later find it is only for her good looks). Eventually she must overcome prejudice to win a notable murder case--all in her first year of law school. Elle graduates at the top of her class and receives an impressive job offer from another prominent law firm. Within the story, she has overcome
adversity, snobbery, chauvinism, false perceptions of the stereotypical blonde and she shows her true potential- her potential as a smart, sophisticated woman.</p>
<p>peindre, mine definitely went over the word limits (only by a few lines or so) for the gov't official and the why barnard essays. the application said if you needed more space to finish in the "additional information" section, so i did. i hope that doesn't hurt me. they were offset with a much shorter daily ritual essay and a regular length character one. i really like all of my essays, and i thought the longer ones read well, so hopefully it won't be a problem...</p>
<p>audra, i love the idea of Elle Woods! great essay! after reading this thread, i keep thinking about a million other characters i would've picked over nora from a doll's house. i had just finished writing 8 essays in 3 days and was having severe writer's block!</p>
<p>nora from a doll's house is quite a good choice! i wrote about johnathan safran foer from everything is illuminated (the film not the book). i basically want to be johnathan, in that i've been gathering information about the shtetl that my grandfather was born in so that i can travel there. i'm nearly certain that i'll find little more than a plaque (maybe not even that) and perhaps remnants of the old jewish cemetary, but it's something that i really need to do, and johnathan made me all the more determined to do it.</p>
<p>No way, kksands, I also wrote about the Fox from le Petit Prince! Rock on :D</p>
<p>haha, willact4food, that's so funny.
I did my character essay on mimi from rent.</p>
<p>I wrote about John Galt from Atlas Shrugged. I wrote about eating ice cream for my daily activity........no, I'm not ridiculously overweight, I'm just ridiculously addicted to mint chocolate chip.</p>
<p>bamagal! i was going to write about eloise too! but at the last minute, i switched to matilda!
daily ritual - coffee addiction</p>
<p>Audra, I love the Elle Woods essay! So true...</p>
<p>My characters were Jeeves and Wooster (from the stories by P.G. Wodehouse) - not for who they were, as characters, but because of what they were in a historical context. (The "Jeeves" stories are some of the funniest in literature, despite Wodehouse's having written them during World Wars I & II, during very bleak times for England...they're almost like fairy tales. He wrote of an England that never existed, and yet is so real for so many people.) I tried to veer away from "moral fiber" type essays, because I'm just not good at them. (Maybe I have no moral fiber?)</p>
<p>My daily ritual was always reading before I go to sleep, no matter how tired I am. I can't seem to sleep unless I do.</p>
<p>marta, that's hilarious...my family just got into that television series. hugh laurie (who plays wooster) is sooooo young in that show! plus it's so weird to hear him speak british cuz on house he has a perfect american accent. i didn't realize it was a book first. figures - all the good ones are.</p>
<p>So true! I'm glad someone else has heard of them...typically only people my parents' age have. Read them if you haven't! You'll laugh like you never have in your whole life, I swear.</p>
<p>Wasn't Hugh Laurie funny-looking back then? Handsome, naturally, but wow...he really grew into himself by the time he started House. I love House, too. He's so intense.</p>