<p>@laodicean: just microwaved a couple pancakes and am now boiling water for noodles. Thanks EmPaige21 for doing what nearly no one can do (get me to eat).</p>
<p>@sweetcookie: you flatter me 
honestly sometimes I feel I didnāt get as much out of my experiences as I should have. Some internationals can write magic about their experiences while others (like me) canāt express feelings to save their lives so yeah.</p>
<p>Well I love food, so Iām glad I could help! You guys are so interesting by the way, and I hope I get to meet you one day!</p>
<p>@Aloice - For my optional essay, I tried to convey the sense that I embody the experiences gained from the places Iāve lived in (e.g. the juxtaposition between my life in the inner city and in rich upper class neighborhoods)
There are indeed many internationals who have gone through a difficult life trying to succeed in a third world country, and their stories are probably a whole lot more interesting than me.</p>
<p>Usually I donāt like feeling as if Iām dependent upon anything to survive, but food is the exception. I donāt mind having to eat to live :)</p>
<p>I love how the optional essay was required to be so short. It makes it so much more meaningful.</p>
<p>@EmPaige21: that would be cool :D</p>
<p>@sweetcookie: count the Internationals who have excellent stories but canāt write they are there and in big numbers since you know THE ESSAYS ARE IN ENGLISH
Ivies may have an instinctive mistrust for essays from China, actually. Chinese essays have a bad reputation - often they are not written by the student him/herself.</p>
<p>@laodicean: ā¦</p>
<p>Food is my savior, always. I love how eating cheers me up.</p>
<p>Whatās your favorite food everyone!?</p>
<p>
If you expressed this kind of sentimentāand did it this wellāin your essays, that should be a big plus for your application.</p>
<p>
You express yourself extremely well.</p>
<p>@Aloice - youāre so right. my mother recently contacted a chinese agency to ask about college stuff. And they basically flat out told her that they do everything for their customers for a set amount of price. One of their customers even got into Stanford!</p>
<p>@laodicean: I really like chicken. Iāll have a really hard time becoming vegan, but Iāll probably do that eventually anyway.</p>
<p>@sweetcookie: wish I can do that. I generally write rant stuff to cheer myself up. Or play games incessantly. The Chinese Agency thing is really unfair - see, besides doing everything for their applicants, they also charge so usually the only students who can benefit are those who wonāt have to apply for financial aid anyway (==>better chance of getting in).</p>
<p>@45 Percenter: Thanks! My main CA essay was on idealism and how you canāt give up noble goals and aspirations even if life is tough. I also mentioned in my Why Penn essay the fact that the goal of engineering should be to unite the populations of Earth and make lives better. /shrug</p>
<p>Iām lame, and a health freak, but my favorite food is hummus and pita.
And tomato and basil bisqueā¦</p>
<p>And you guys are all so eloquent.</p>
<p>@aloice - I WRITE RANT STUFF TOO! not too healthy, but at least I donāt vent my frustration through violence.
the chinese agency told my mom that i shouldnāt apply for financial aid for those exact purposes, but iām still very grateful that many ivies are need blind to canadians</p>
<p>@EmPaige - my favorite fruit is guava. i could eat it every day for every meal.</p>
<p>@sweetcookie - I tell people I throw my pillow across the room when Iām frustrated. I actually donāt do that (I love my pillow). I sometimes fantasize about ranting on my own on an empty open field though, because the catharsis would be like so great.</p>
<p>@everyone - I love grapes. And sweet corn. Oh my god those are so good. If the Chinese staple crop is corn instead of rice Iād be like 20 pounds heavier.</p>
<p>@aloice - my other form of catharsis is to cry everything out. i can get very emotional if i want to</p>
<p>@sweetcookie - lol, itās easy to get me to tear up too (usually happens when Iām reading stuff or watching movies). I personally think crying should never be a crime. It shouldnāt be regarded as a sign of weakness because if you cry, you know you can still feel with depth. I appreciate my teary moments because the workload sometimes reduces me to feeling numb and exhausted and I really like feeling human.</p>
<p>avocados and dark chocolate <3</p>
<p>does anyone else feel like things always turn out opposite the way you want it to?
it seems like the more I want penn, the more I canāt have it!
luck never seems to work in my favor, haha</p>
<p>@Aloice - I donāt like bad feelings building up inside me. Crying is like vomiting. It doesnāt feel well trying to hold it in - better to let emotions flow out.
Whenever I feel stressed out to the point of giving up, I automatically start crying. Then after a good cry, I get back to work like nothing happened. Itās a stress reliever, albeit not a very healthy one. Thatās why Iām learning yoga these days!</p>
<p>Trader joeās dark chocolate french truffles :D</p>
<p>@littlestar - MY LIFE exactly.</p>