Our blog page is meant to serve as a platform to amplify the voices of FGLI, BIPOC high school and college students. Want to share your story?

Standing Out: How my love of Anime got me into an Ivy League school
Paouli Pitang Paouli Pitang

Standing Out: How my love of Anime got me into an Ivy League school

Since the 5th grade, I have been a huge anime lover. I watched all of the classics, the big five, and even the obscure, underrated animes. However, my interest shifted during the pandemic from watching anime to reading light novels. I was bored at home and animes weren’t updating fast enough, so I started reading light novels to keep myself entertained. Before long, I was completely engrossed in the magical world that light novels offered and spent a few hours each day reading them.

When it came time to write my Common App essay, I didn’t have any idea what to do.

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Imposter Syndrome and How to Beat It
Lisette Gallarzo Guerrero Lisette Gallarzo Guerrero

Imposter Syndrome and How to Beat It

Imposter Syndrome is known as “the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.” This was something that I didn’t know existed before college, but it hit me hard.

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Finding Comfort in Discomfort: Why you should say “yes,” especially when it scares you
Crystal Arguelles Crystal Arguelles

Finding Comfort in Discomfort: Why you should say “yes,” especially when it scares you

Moving away from home, at any age, takes a big adjustment and is the first terrifying step forward in your career and into adulthood. I grew up in a close-knit Mexican-American family and neighborhood as a first-generation college student. Needless to say, I was very close to my family and didn’t have a clear idea of what “going to college” would mean for me. If you would have told me that I would move across the country from the bustling city of Houston, TX to the cozy nature of Ithaca, NY to attend Cornell University, well, I would not have believed you. 

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How Diversity Fly-In Programs Helped me Narrow Down my College Search
Tenzin Kunsang Tenzin Kunsang

How Diversity Fly-In Programs Helped me Narrow Down my College Search

I started out my junior year of high school having a vague idea of what colleges I thought were the best fit for me. Was I interested in big research universities or small liberal arts colleges? Was I interested in colleges far from home or in state colleges, which would also have a relatively cheaper cost of attendance than out of state schools? The list of questions was profound. As the year went by, I learned more information from a fellow first generation college student about her experience applying and attending diversity programs, or “fly-in” programs.

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