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We
asked prospective students, as part of their application process, to write
an essay about why they wanted to attend Reed. This is what some of them
told us.
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Because.
. . . |
I want an environment where a love
of the arts, of the full breadth of human expression, and of diversity
(especially in its less hackneyed dimensions) is taken for granted. |
A classmate visited
the Reed campus this summer. He told me that it was extremely liberal,
with an incredibly eccentric student body, and that it was definitely
not the school for him. Well, I am nothing like him, and I need a
school that can nurture a constantly changing and growing individuality.
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Reed stuck out. Like a sore, blue-painted,
and left-leaning thumb. I am drawn to the prospect that it is one
of the only colleges where honesty and passion for learning is the
norm, where the classes are small and the coffee strong enough to
stick a fork into. |
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For me, it may be a saving gracea place
where I can use my head without fear of ridicule, without having to
be the best (I never was anyway); a place where ideas are cherished,
not ignored, and people are people, not groups. |
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I hope my ideas will be challenged, but never simply
discarded for their differences. |
I can see myself later in life as a Reedie: successful,
eccentrically charismatic, and well learned about religion, thought,
and culture. |
I want to come to Reed because the admission lady
had a nose ring. |
I first became interested in Reed College
solely to upset my mother. |
I am a devout libertarian, an aspiring
Bodhisattva, a fusion jazz pianist, a progressive computer programmer,
and a blunt, abstract poet. |
Sure, its fun to read Heart
of Darkness now, but what if I read it in a small class where
the students really like to read, and get into it: I wouldnt
be surprised if the room exploded. |
He was a poet, Jack
Kerouac says of Japhy Ryder. A mountain man, a Buddhist dedicated
to the principle of meditation on the essence of all things.
Japhy Ryder went to Reed. |
It was Sunday afternoon, and a solid
80 percent of the people I saw were reading, writing, or clearly just
thinking damn hard about something. And the people who werent
studying were arguing. |
My bossa Reed graduatehad been telling
me that Reed might be a good place. He described all the extremes
that Reed was: extremely hard to do well, extremely left wing, extremely
small. All I could think was: Finally! |
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