I have long thought that the best study skills stem from creativity and imagination. My sophomore year of high school, I took a demanding class called Western Civilization, which we traced the history of politics, music, and art in Western Europe from 800 BCE to the present day. I only did well in that class because I developed a system of mapping out big events that involved drawing pictures and color-coding big historic themes. Tests are puzzles, and we have to create customized and imaginative modes of solving them. I have tutored high school students in the Princeton area in such topics as SAT and ACT (all subjects), reading comprehension, memorization skills for History and Biology, and essay writing. I plan to go into journalism after I graduate, and continue performing with vocal ensembles in a semi-professional capacity.
College:
Education: Princeton University
Undergrad Major: Near Eastern Studies
Other Degrees/Minors: Certificate in Spanish Language and Culture
High School:
Class Rank: 1
Awards & Honors: Valedictorian, AP Scholar, Grammy Award (with chorus) for Mahler's Symphony #3 with the San Francisco Symphony, MVP Varsity Field Hockey, Runner-Up, BBC's Let the Peoples Sing! International Choir Competition
Interests & Activities: Classically trained singer (10 years with the San Francisco Girls Chorus, including six productions with the San Francisco Opera and five productions (one Grammy-winning) with the San Francisco Symphony, performed with the Coro Nacional de Cuba in Havana, and performed at Barack Obama's first presidential inauguration), Theater Productions (I also performed in theater productions throughout high school and had leading roles in both my junior year and senior year musical), Field Hockey (Most Valuable Player Junior Year)
SAT Scores: 800 Math, 800 Critical Reading, 800 Writing
AP Exams: 5 U.S. History, 4 Physics B, 5 Environmental Science, 5 Calculus AB, 5 Spanish Literature, 5 English Literature
SAT Subject Tests: 800 Math II, 760 U.S. History, 800 Spanish
Other:
Other Interests & Activities: J-Street (Student Community Organizer for the tri-state region (NY, NJ, PA, CT)), The Daily Princetonian Opinion Section (Senior Contributor), Princeton University Glee Club, Princeton University Chamber Choir, selective working research group on migration topics (I'm writing my senior thesis about Arab diasporas in Latin America)
Location: Princeton University