Kylie Hansen
Twin Falls, ID

“Elevate Your Life

Dream big and you can accomplish anything. That statement is what I live by. For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed big. One dream stands out among all the others. My dream is to return to Massachusetts where I grew up. There, I will attend Harvard University and reunite with my best friend. My entire being has been and is centered on this dream, and so far, nothing has been able to stop me in my pursuit to attain it.

All my life I’ve planned, prepared, and plotted how I will reach my dream. So far I’ve come up with a reasonably fulfilling list of things to do to increase my chance to get accepted into Harvard University. There are four major actions I have to take during high school to make the minimum requirements to be chosen for an Ivy League school. First and foremost, I have to keep my grades absolutely perfect. I’m sure every applicant wishing to be approved into an Ivy League school had straight A’s all throughout middle and high school life, so I will do that too. Going along with that is being valedictorian. This is the second basic requirement in my plan for Harvard. My third qualification is taking AP classes. Without being in advanced placement classes, I’m sure I have no chance at even being considered. My fourth and final condition is to score high on my SAT, ACT, and science ISAT tests. This necessity is probably the most important one of all. The first thing colleges are probably going to look for on your application is how well you scored on those tests. CNN states that Kwasi Enin, a high school boy from New York who got accepted into all eight of the Ivy League schools, scored in the 98% of the SAT test of all the students who took it that year.

Besides those for major items on my list of things to do for college, I have many other extracurricular activities to add to my application as well. Since I am a gymnast, I will stay in gymnastics and continue to learn valuable life skills like dedication, self-control, and persistence. I am also in band, and I take piano lessons, so I will try to stay in them all throughout high school. I will try to participate in clubs as well, such as the honors society. Finally, I could also go to special science camps during the summer, or go to science conventions with my science teachers to gain experience. Doing all this will ensure that I am a well-rounded person, which is what colleges look for.

Besides everything I’ve stated so far, there’s still more I have planned. One word can sum it all up – volunteer. Since I desire to go into a science field, volunteering in something science related could be a valuable asset to my application. Not only could I offer my time in my community, but I could also help out internationally in other countries like France or Japan.

Once I have made it into Harvard, I plan to do what I did in high school. I will study hard, keeping my GPA at 4.0, and graduate as a valedictorian with a bachelors degree in astronomy, chemistry, or physics, my favorite subjects. My college life won’t be all schooling, though. I’ll have plenty of fun with my best friend. It will be a happy reunion I’ve waited years and years to happen. Once I’ve gotten my bachelors degree, I’ll go on to graduate school for my doctorate, and finally, after all my schooling is done, I’ll live my life as an astrophysicist or astro chemist, my dream jobs. As you can see, education plays a major role in attaining my dream – before, during, and after as well. I couldn’t imagine even attempting this dream without the help of education.

My life is well-planned out, but I’m fine with that. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved science and wanted to accomplish as much as possible. I just combined those two ideas to create my dream of attending Harvard University and earning a degree in a science field. Nothing will be able to stop me from attaining this dream, because I know that if you dream big and work hard, you can accomplish anything.