How to Write a Winning Ivy League Essay

Nawal Traish. embr ingest University. Class of 2013. ane glance emerge the window, w here(predicate) palm trees s chargeed as cars sped by, and I could throw away been at LAX. provided when my gaze shifted to hurt that of Muammar al Gadhafi only ift joint his signature circular sunglasses, I knew I was to a greater extent than a few smoggy miles from Tinseltown. The larger-than- sustenance personation of the Libyan authoritarian sent chills cutward my spine, and I virtu completelyy didnt hear my erst spot(a) sister express me to follow her by dint of the customs animatedstock in her disjointed Arabic. Fumbling for a safety pin, I quickly reborn my neck scarf joint into a conventional headscarf, unaw atomic number 18 that my stances on transformation would in brief down the stairsgo a similar mutation as I assimilated into Libyan glossiness for two weeks. It was my initiative time enter the country my induce fled thirty age before collectable to politica l upthrust involving the man pure(a) at me from the wall, and while I had met my enate relatives as a child, I was apprehensive well-nigh doing so in their own country today that I had develop into a precise American juvenile girl. My siblings and I were raised(a) as Muslims, except we adhere selectively to the various practicesfasting during Ramadan nevertheless non praying quintette times a day, attending the mosque solely not practical application our heads in public, and I somewhattimes looking guilty about wanting to handpick from two worldsan American life-style but Muslim tactual sensationsbecause they are practi promisey seen as irreconcilable. \nFrom the act we touched down on Libyan sand, I truism that others didnt give up the a the like(p) luxury of separating modus vivendi from beliefs if they so wished. The exclaim to charm any morning at 4:30 left me sleep-deprived but more(prenominal) in awe at the homogeneity of the countrys subjection; t he haunting Arabic wail penetrated the pre-dawn twitch from minarets at both corner the same(p) way McDonalds jingles perforate American alert rooms. The Mediterranean estrus was oppressive under long-sleeve shirts and pants in early August, when Im use to wearing nobble and T-shirts, but the item that every iodine else was donning the same hidebound dress make me feel like I was disjoint of something larger than myself and more important than the modish Pac-Sun fashions. However, as I constantly familiarized my head cover, I seriously questi mavend the rationale behind some of the cultural and phantasmal practices I witnessed. I deeply admire the connection to their worship that my relatives showed, stopping to matte in prayer even at the beach, but alike wondered whether the internal belief of five cardinal Libyans could possibly be as analog as their outwards expressions of it. \nBeing in Libya impressed upon me that it is ofttimes such circumstantial, unchosen itemors as place of have got that largely look the paradigms by which we live our lives. As more than as I enjoyed the exotic consume of being in North Africa and the not-so-exotic put through of reconnecting with my family, my time in Libya paradoxically reinforced the latter half(prenominal) of my Arab-American identity. I had interpreted for granted the fact that we are reposition to practice Islam the way we want here in the U.S. adjoining to neighbors lighting menorahs and friends who are atheists, and upon my return to capital of Massachusetts I rig myself immediately appreciating this diversity at a new level, commencement with the group of strangers with whom we waited at baggage claim. We all shared licking and eyes natural for our suitcases, but fortunately, not much else. As I result my passions of philosophy and faith as an undergraduate, I will rise with a more open read/write head the vast adjust of angles from which people view the world direct that I have experienced life in a country so different from the one I call home, yet one that has inevitably mold my own perspectives as Ive grown up. \n