Lewis and Clark exploration and personal academic goals

Lewis & Clark -- Letter of Application

Thank you in advance for your consideration of my application for admission to Lewis & Clark. I am certain that as a student at Lewis & Clark I will grow in intellectual stature, that my studies and activities will lead me to a level of scholarship and academic excellence that will open the door to an exciting and stimulating future.

Having carefully researched the opportunities that Lewis & Clark present to students, I believe my experiences have prepared me well, and I am anxious to be accepted, to enroll, and to become a productive, valuable member of the campus community.

The Pacific Northwest is a stunningly beautiful and ecologically diverse area of the United States, and looking through the information about the College Outdoors at Lewis & Clark, I am excited at the possibility of becoming involved in this aspect of the college. In addition to the experiences that will be available in the mountains, the coastal stretches of Oregon, the rivers and the desert, I am attracted to the idea of gaining "practical experience in leadership roles," as your Web site explains.

I was fortunate to have many experiences in my high school with reference to leadership and to the environment. I placed first in our school's "Environmental Management" speech contest; I served as the school's "Environmental Protection Ambassador"; I was a participant in my community's "Municipal Environmental Protection Symposium"; I established my school's Photography Club and provided leadership for the "Provincial Photography Activity -- Impression of Mudanjiang" in China.

Lewis & Clark will be for me a place to grow in my musical career. The Lewis & Clark Electric Music Studio will be an appropriate venue for me become more proficient at my piano playing. Becoming a part of Lewis & Clark's "community of scholars who are alive to inquiry, open to diversity, and disciplined to work in an interdependent world," has great appeal for me. In my quest to gain knowledge, to contribute and develop as a serious scholar while participating in community-related services, I can think of no better opportunity than Lewis & Clark. I am very attracted to the idea that Lewis & Clark is small enough to know me and yet large enough to offer me wonderful choices for my development as a productive adult.

Besides the offerings of numerous majors that are all pertinent to the student that wishes to make a difference in this world, I have a strong desire to participate in Lewis & Clark's community service program. The chance to roll up my sleeves and become a worthy contributor to a community need in the Portland area is appealing to me. In China, I have worked as a volunteer in the pediatric ward of a local hospital, spending time with the patients, reading to them, playing games with them, interacting with their parents.

Also in China, I worked many hours with other volunteers to help survivors of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, a temblor that killed almost 70,000 people, injured 374,170 -- and over 18,000 were officially listed as missing in that disaster. My work in helping with that natural disaster was honored when I was given the title "Outstanding Student Representative of Volunteers" in the Wenchuan Distress area. I am very proud of my participation in that horrific human tragedy, and also I have helped the Heilongjiang Red Cross in providing warm clothing, blankets and food to impoverished people in the remote mountainous areas of China.