Pitt is it

How have you overcome failure?
I attend a magnet school, one of the top in the nation, but when applying, I longed for my base school instead and I hoped I wouldn't get accepted. When the acceptance letter came, that was failure to me For my entire freshman year, I convinced myself I was in the wrong place, so I sulked around and refused to accept it. I made my plans to drop out by the year's end common knowledge, but as I stayed, I began to get invested in the community and acclimated to the school, until I realized: the only reason I wasn't happy at my high school was because I refused to be. I've learned to open up, I've learned how to cope when my plans for my future don't come through, and I've learned to adapt.

How have you exhibited outstanding leadership?
Japan Bowl is a national quiz bowl about all things Japan, and I've competed on my school's team for three years. As the only student in the school who participated for all three years, by the third year I was ensuring that all of the study topics were covered, making endless flashcard sets for my other team members, and serving as a mentor for competitors in the lower levels. Together, my team managed to get fourth place.

Why is Pitt a good choice for you?
There's a really sweet theatre program; I would love to get involved with the tech. I've heard how intense the upper-level Japanese courses are, and I'm excited to experience language at such a fast pace; plus, the major comes with tons of interesting courses - an entire course on the structure of the Japanese language? Yes please. An entire Less Commonly Taught Languages department? I could take a semester of Quechua, or Swahili, or Irish Gaelic, for no reason. I have this crazy fantasy about being able to go anywhere in the world, ask someone what language they speak, and just start riffing - this department would be perfect for that... To me, Pitt is not a safety school. It's the quintessential college experience, it's options upon options, it's tight-knit community, smack-dab in the center of the city. I don't dare say perfect, but Pitt sure comes close.