35 Harvard University Essays That Worked

I chose to spend my sophomore summer participating in Barnard's Young Women's Leadership Institute, where I attended a two-week course on modes of feminist thought. I took on dense reading and writing assignments while creating a cumulative project. I also attended workshops on leadership, advocacy, and entrepreneurship.

In the spring of 2020, I designed a research trip to inform a larger independent thesis paper and art project exploring subcultures. In Los Angeles, I had planned to conduct fieldwork around its Youth Culture. I contacted community members to interview, choose events to photograph, and researched extensively about counterculture history in LA. Unfortunately, Covid stopped my work before it had even begun. That hasn't dampened my curiosity for understanding the intersections of place and counterculture. I currently add to online archives and attend local punk shows that record modern subcultures' fashion, histories, and looks. I love to expand my knowledge while connecting it to the historical trends I learn about in school.

I am in the process of creating my senior thesis paper, which I will complete research for and publish in the spring. Although this is a school program, I have pursued opportunities to build my research outside of school beyond expectations. My thesis explores the application of Indigenous curriculums to diversify museum exhibits. I choose to apply to a professional development program under the Mayor's office for high-achieving students interested in arts-based leadership. I worked at the Albuquerque museums, where my responsibilities included operating museum software, cataloging art, working on the museum archives, and providing insight on exhibits. My work contributed to diversifying the skills in Albuquerque and gave me insight into how museums operate.

I then took the information from this internship and implemented it into a free gallery exhibit titled Love. I worked as the curator of this show, where I selected art pieces, contacted artists, designed exhibit flow, and physically hung art. The exhibit was open to the public and situated in my home neighborhood.

This summer, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and participated in the two-week intensive at the Young-Yale Global Scholars Innovations in Science and Technology program. This program pushed me to connect STEM to my existing passion for humanities. In addition, it grew my curiosity about the intersection of museum studies and computer science.

When beginning my medical affairs internship, I was unfamiliar with the field. Luckily, my boss was eager to teach: the medical affairs team communicated with key opinion leaders about drug efficacy, studied patient quality-of-life, and directed medical publications. I learned about addressing unmet patient needs and data analysis requests and compiled agendas and slides for international advisory board meetings.

My learning, however, initiated reflection. I worked in [Redacted Content]s; our conditions of interest had less than 1000 cases worldwide. The cost of treatment was astounding. I couldn’t help thinking about the skyrocketing costs of general healthcare in America and its disparities along racial and socioeconomic lines. I began to realize that I could not stand for the pharmaceutical industry’s profiteering. Privatized healthcare bars patients from the care they deserve; we desperately need reform. I hope to use what I learned to advocate for healthcare equity and justice in our communities.