Members of the Class of 2004. Almost all were born in 1982 and have no recollection of the Reagan era. Most were around 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart, and they don't remember the Cold War. Vinyl albums predate them, meaning, of course, they can't relate to the phrase "you sound like a broken record." There have always been answering machines, cable TV, VCRs, remote controls, Walkman players and soft contact lenses. AIDS is a reality. The Vietnam War is ancient history. They don't know who Mork was, and they don't care who shot JR because they've never heard of him, either.

So, how do faculty and admissions officers get to know potential incoming students and how do they decide who those new students will be?

At UD, one valuable source is the admissions essay.

"Students' records look similar. An essay serves as something students can use to separate themselves from the rest of the applicant pool," Larry Griffith, director of admissions, says. "It gives us a better perspective.

"Sure, we look at their grades, at how they challenged themselves in high school, how they did over four years and their SAT or ACT scores. But, if all of those things aren't enough to move us to a firm yes or no, we look carefully at their essays. We also consider their letters of recommendation, their volunteer work and their productivity outside of school."

Each year, admissions officers come up with new essay questions, Griffith says. In the past, UD applicants have been asked to write about an experience that changed their life, their family heredity or their thoughts on the eve of the millennium.

Essays give admissions officers insights into students, Griffith says.

"It's always surprising to me just how much an applicant will tell you about what's going on in his or her life. We've had essays about their parents' divorce or travel to foreign countries. Many times, you can see that the writers are emotionally involved, that they are relating important real-life situations.

"Generally speaking, content outweighs grammatical mistakes," Griffith says, "but, when applicants misspell Delaware, we really take it to heart."

Given UD's popularity, it's not unusual for admissions officers to have 30-40 essays on their desks on any given day. "We're glad we have the essays," Griffith says, "even if it is more work. In the end, the payoff is extremely beneficial. It's a huge process. But, when you get right down to it, if you recognize students' names at check-in, it's probably because of their essays."

Portions of seven essays, written by applicants who chose UD in the year 2000, are reprinted here.

--Beth Thomas

Growing up in land-locked Ohio didn't stop James Nicholas (Jimmy) Sarakatsannis from dreaming of the ocean.

Working as a lifeguard at a pool for three years and learning to scuba dive on a trip to the Florida Keys fueled his interest in all things marine. With an eye on UD's graduate College of Marine Studies, he plans to major in biochemistry during his undergraduate years.

At Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, he excelled in general and quantitative chemistry, was in the drum line of the marching band, played in the pit orchestra and was a member of the volleyball team. To become an Eagle Scout, he built an erosion wall along a local creek. At UD, he hopes to continue his music in his spare time. *

The Fragility of Life

The sisters entered the sanitary hallway warily, their mother shuffling confusedly behind them....At the end of the hall, the father sat at a small table, hunched over a pile of forms. The mother caught sight of him. "My husband. Th--that's my husband," she pointed. "I know, Mom," said the youngest. "Come on, we've got to go now." "Why?" she implored. "Because Mom, we just do."

They continued on through the hallway until the attendant stopped at a door. "Here you are, ma'am," she said as she pushed open the door. The daughters laboriously guided their mother through the door and entered the empty room.

"Where's my husband...?" she begged. "Mom, why don't you have a seat right here for a while," suggested the oldest as she presented a chair for her frail mother....

She sat in her chair, anxiously fiddling with her wedding ring. Her eyes wandered, bewildered, a confused woman in a life she didn't recognize. "Where's my husband...?"

Life is fleeting. Not in the sense that death is perpetually lurking around the corner, but in that the meaning is often easily lost on much of the world. Far too often is life taken for granted and not recognized for its true value.... From the experiences I have shared with my grandmother, who is suffering from a severe case of Alzheimer's disease, I have come face to face with the loss of a highly valuable life. While still living, my grandmother has no concept of her family, cannot distinguish the present from the past. Her life is a constant nightmare of fear and paranoia in which she never feels comfortable or understands her surroundings.

Not until witnessing the disintegration of this woman's spirit have I been fully aware of the fragility of life. From her experiences and those I have shared with my family in her struggle, I have learned to appreciate the things that I have now. My grandmother has ceased to exist as a functioning member of society, but she is now a powerful reminder of how important it is to recognize life for what it is worth.... If the essence of life is not captured by those who can experience it, the suffering of those who cannot is meaningless. My grandmother's pain means a great deal to me.

--James Nicholas Sarakatsannis

The plethora of poets in UD's English department inspired Adam McGee to come to UD. A graduate of Milford High School, where he was president of the Thespian Society, Adam has a self-effacing sense of humor that leads him to describe his own poetry as "contemporary, inspired by T.S. Eliot and the modernists and probably pretty bad!"

Last year, Adam starred as Guy Masterson in his high school production of Guys and Dolls. In addition to acting, the role required singing, of which he says, "Hmm...well, I tried to sing, but it might be better to say I was just enjoying the means of expressing myself."

Also a veteran theatre director, Adam is hoping to get involved with the Harrington Theatre Arts Company and eventually write for the literary magazine.

His long-range goal is to teach English on the college level.

"I've always respected teachers and the sacrifices they have to make," he says.

Y2Kare?

It is Jan. 1, 2000. It is 9 p.m. and the new year has been here now for almost an entire day. There has been no disaster, no new year casualties. The war and pestilence that so many predicted are notable only for their complete absence.

I hate being read as a pessimist, but I must make note of this fact; the millennium has not come yet--in our complete anxiety to celebrate a momentous occasion, we have neglected the history, which would reveal that the new millennium is yet one year away (since there never was a year zero)....

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, for me, the new year is just another year as far as "the grand scheme of things" goes. I am, however, especially excited to discover where technology will take us in the year 2000 and beyond. Most specifically, I am fascinated by the Internet and the World Wide Web. I have recently been thinking about the parallels between ancient mythology and our current technology.

To explain: One of the first goddesses ever dreamed of by human beings was that of the Spider Goddess, who wove the world into being and spun human societies. The archetype is, arguably, as old as human culture. One of her oldest names--Arianrhod--dates back thousands of years to the British Isles. Other versions of this same goddess, however, can be found throughout the world--the American Southwest Indians, for instance, engraved massive images of their spider goddess into the desert.

Now, in the year 2000, we are constantly advancing a new technology which allows people to communicate at the speed of light--a massive crisscrossing network--that we call the World Wide Web. The similarity between the idea of the Spider Goddess who brings people together and the World Wide Web, which has the same purpose, is surprising and unusual.

While the similarity is, in and of itself, perhaps entirely meaningless, I take the poetic license to say that it is a sign that we are on to something big, something capable of bringing people together in a way that has never happened before.

--Adam McGee

Look out UD! Julissa (Juli) Gutierrez has landed in Newark and is literally hoping to make a "World of Difference." That's the name of the successful high school peer training project Juli started at her large public high school in Queens and one that she hopes to see continue on the UD campus.

"I'm a big advocate of peace and justice issues," she explains, "and 'World of Difference,' sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, helps promote social awareness. It provides a catalyst for dialog on issues like racism, sexism, homophobia and lots of other topics.

"I just got back from a seminar on peace and justice sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and I'm into social awareness more than ever right now," she said in early August. "I'm bugging all my friends to get out and vote. I tell them I'll go to the post office with them even!"

A visit to Korea last fall sparked Juli's interest in international relations, a subject in which she plans to major at UD.

"After that trip, I knew I would probably always work to bring positive change to other worlds," she says.

"I'm such a city person that everyone, even me, is surprised that I'm going to the University of Delaware. It's so suburban!" she says. "But, the campus was just so pretty and the people were so friendly, I thought, 'I'll be okay there.'"

I hope our nation's cultural diversity will become our greatest strength as we strive into the 21st century. Accepting cultural diversity will make Americans better understand each other, live together and build united communities. When people can explore perspectives and ideas, they discover how much they share in common and learn to appreciate their differences. I feel one of my purposes in life is to promote multicultural awareness, in order to ensure the importance and tolerance everyone deserves.

In the past three years, I have had the privilege to be selected as part of three intercultural youth leadership exchange programs. Each of the programs' objectives included developing and building awareness and understanding the positive cross-cultural relations between youth of diverse ethnic backgrounds. I was able to touch the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, speak at the European Parliament located in Brussels and view the Buddha, a representative masterpiece of the Unified Shilla period, in South Korea. My ability to participate in such events has fostered my growth through exposure to new ideas, insights and cross-cultural experiences.

The power of communication is one of our most valuable tools. As I traveled to Israel, one of the project's aims was to facilitate anti-bias workshops.... As we communicated with the Israeli youth, we overcame the language barrier and understood the goal of the workshop....

To relate such experiences exposes the vitality of what the impact of cultural diversity is on an individual. To create bonds of friendship overseas opens the heart and desire to understand and fully accept others....

Throughout my intercultural study tours, I have gained valuable information and skills, which have enabled me to communicate cultural diversity to my community. I have learned to absorb every second and opportunity life has to offer....

As I traveled and made new friends, my eyes have opened and looked beyond the faces of those around me and felt their love. I have discovered things that unify us and make us one human race. There is only one basic truth, we can solve our problems if we approach each other with open hearts and minds.

--Julissa Gutierrez

Ask Alaina Brown what she feels passionately about and her answer includes reading, medicine, television's The West Wing, American history, her family's Christmas traditions, the value of laughter and Mexican food.

A chemistry major who says she hopes to become a doctor or perhaps a physician's assistant, Alaina says she chose UD because she "liked the individual attention I got when I visited. I really felt like I was not just a number, but a real person."

At her high school in Chantilly, Va., she played soccer and was a member of the National Honor Society. She also volunteered at a local hospital and was a tutor.

At UD, she wants to be involved in service organizations, soccer or rugby, a Catholic religious group and, perhaps, a choral group.

The Road Less Traveled

When I was younger, I thought a Rhodes Scholar, which I hear so much about, was a person paid to travel around England studying. I heard "road" scholar instead of Rhodes Scholar, and I pictured the brilliant minds of the world traveling around England reading and learning.

I have no idea where I got the idea that it was in England, but it seemed very romantic to me. I could picture students hiking through the picturesque countryside with a haversack of books slung over their shoulders. Forget being a nurse, I knew what I was going to be; I was going to be a Road Scholar. Granted, my goal was to know everything there is to know, and this was the way I was going to go about doing it.

Imagine my disappointment when I found out that I had made everything up.

I quickly outgrew my disappointment and developed more "mature" career aspirations. I went through the teacher phase, the archaeologist phase, the lawyer phase and the doctor phase. These were definitely professions I could invest my time and money in. I had moved on to bigger and better things.

However, the onslaught of decisions thrust upon me by college applications has made me take stock of what I want to do in my life. In the middle of my ponderings, I remembered my old vision of the Rhodes Scholar. What had happened to my passion for learning that had made me want to become a Road Scholar? Somewhere between elementary school and high school, I had buried my enthusiasm for learning beneath the drudgery of education.

As I remembered my youthful misconception, my interest in becoming a traveling academic was rekindled.... Although I have always wanted to go into the medical field...it was the study of history that was most attractive to me. However, I had always felt that I couldn't pursue my love of history because it wouldn't be practical in the health sciences.

I realize now that I can pursue any interest I have, and still go into the profession that I want. Learning isn't something that ends with school; it's an ongoing process. I can become a doctor or a physician's assistant and still study history. Being a Road Scholar is not so much about traveling around and learning, but it is about a journey.

-Alaina Brown

Socks that don't stink? I had to find out more. The young University of Vermont engineer explained that ions from the socks' silver lining destroyed the breathing apparatus of odor-causing microbes and that the reflective properties of the silver made the flimsy, silk socks extremely warm. I was fascinated. After a week of wearing the socks while Nordic skiing, I found that his claims held true. They allow me to ski comfortably for hours and keep me from turning a crowded ski village into a ghost town when I remove my boots. These socks not only added to my skiing comfort, they sparked a career interest.

I have always been fascinated by sports equipment, like ski wax, soccer gear and bike parts. I wonder why one ski is better than another or why wax makes skis go faster. I never tire of poring over bike catalogs, evaluating new models. I revel in mentally cataloging ski clothing fabrics like Therma®, Gore-Tex®, Drylete® and Windstopper Fleece®. Recently, I have been gaining an understanding of bike parts through my job at a local bike shop, and using spare time in chemistry class to understand the science behind ski wax.

My interest in technology was heightened working as a new products and gear editor for my parents' cross-country ski magazine. Each month, I got the chance to test and evaluate new ski products based on their technological interest and practicality for skiing. I tried new sports drinks, energy-packed goo and silver-lined socks, and loved seeing how the science behind these products influenced their utility. I love math and science and have often thought about using my knowledge in these fields to invent gear that's useful and fun. My experience with the magazine, especially the silver socks, convinced me: I want to be an engineer.

---Charles Collins-Chase

Sing a song from the musical Oliver! and chances are, if Kate Stark is anywhere nearby, she'll soon be singing along. That's because the aspiring actress was in three productions of the show in the course of as many years. She was in the children's chorus and the adult chorus in productions by the Wilmington (Del.) Drama League and played Fagan in a production at Wilmington Friends School.

Kate has taken voice lessons for four years and has a penchant for languages. She is fluent in French, Spanish and American Sign Language. At UD, she hopes to study Greek and Russian.

She chose UD based on the reception she received during the Eugene du Pont Memorial Distinguished Scholars weekend. She plans to work out her major as she goes along and, of course, expects to get involved in theatre.

We called our cart Schmendrick to make the lab more personal, and to add some whimsy to the atmosphere of academic desperation that accompanies all physics labs. We were observing Schmendrick's motion as he rolled down plywood ramps of different angles. Sometimes, we added weight to the small wooden cart, just to see how he would respond. We already knew how he should react; the laws of physics tell you how any object will move under specific circumstances. Physics is the map that gives order to a chaotic universe; we just wanted to demonstrate the incredible accuracy of physics' laws.

We knew that, even as we changed all the other variables in the experiment, one number would always be the same. This number was mu, the coefficient of friction between the wheels of the cart and the plywood ramp. Since Schmendrick and the ramp would be made of the same material, no matter how we changed their angles or masses, their coefficient of friction would always be the same. Our task was to derive the value of mu from several sets of real-life data....

Once all our data was collected, I spent many difficult, but fulfilling, hours arranging it prettily, manipulating the numbers so that they must relinquish the secrets of Schmendrick's velocity and acceleration at every stage of each of his descents. The only calculation remaining for me to do was the final computation of the assignment--that of mu.

The formula for mu was easy to derive. Physics had provided me with all the data I needed; I only had to arrange it correctly. If I had ever learned to whistle, I would surely have been whistling as I blithely set about my calculations.

Everything began quite well. I fed the first set of data into my formula and obtained a very respectable approximation of mu. The problem only arose as I started to calculate mu for the second set of data. I realized that there must be an inherent fault in the formula I had derived!

I checked and re-checked my formula, and tried desperately to remember any mistakes I could have made. I searched my mind and my notes for an answer but found nothing. Eventually, I had to abandon my efforts and go to bed. Late that night a thought crept into my mind, but I pushed it away. It was abominable. Nevertheless, the thought returned, and I couldn't help entertaining it for a few moments. Physics was incorrect. Science had failed me.

I slept fitfully and woke to a creeping anxiety.... At the first opportunity that day, I went to my teacher for guidance. I told him my story and waited expectantly for reassurance. To my chagrin, he laughed. It was laughter that could come only from one unchallenged in his beliefs. My pride bristled at his merriment. My faith was at stake; I did not find it funny. If my ego suffered, though, the peace of mind his next response gave me was certainly worth the embarrassment. "Acceleration doesn't change," he said. "Acceleration, like mu, is a constant at a given angle."

My soul rejoiced. It was my mistake, not physics!

Perhaps I had been too quick to challenge scientific truth, which had always reassured me with its invariable authority. I had had great faith in physics when all of its theorems were tangibly verified for me, but the minute one coefficient had appeared to be in doubt, I had questioned the faultlessness of the entire frame of study....

After I turned from physics ever so briefly, every formula and conversion was twice as sweet when I returned. Now I more fully understand the blessing of an immutable cosmology. I will never take it for granted again.

--Katherine A. Stark

Academically speaking, Brian Patterson says, "I have changed my major an exceedingly large number of times." Now, though, he's come up with a unique plan to merge the study of computer engineering with business and economics.

"So often, engineers and business people are at opposite ends of the spectrum--the advantages, however, of fusing the two fields seem very promising. Both technology and the way the economy works excite me," he explains. Last summer, he interned with Symbol Technologies Inc., a group that works with universities installing wireless networks. "This has been a great experience because not only did I get to work with technology on the brink of becoming a standard fixture in information technology, but I also got to experience some of the business that inevitably goes along with it," he says.

At Shoreham-Wading River High School in New York, Brian was active in the theatre department. His last role was that of Rolf Gruber in The Sound of Music. He also sang in the school chorus and vocal jazz ensemble. At UD, he hopes to sing with an a cappella group but thinks his favorite theatrical role may be that of audience member--at least for a while.

I'm a dork and I'm damn proud of it. Intelligence, sensitivity, variation from the norm and a bizarre sense of humor are all things that have, at times, been attributed to my "dorkiness." If, indeed, these characteristics define a dork, then my goal can be none other than to maintain dorkiness until my dying day.

Let us look more closely at this creature we call dork. He certainly may not be pleasing to the eye, but for our purposes, ignore the physical. His personality is glaringly different from anyone we have encountered, so we feel the need to judge, label and shun him. Give him another chance, what have we to lose? While getting to know him, we may see the subtlety of his perception and learn something from him. We may benefit from his sensitivity and compassion. His little idiosyncrasies and apparently odd interests may reveal something in ourselves that we never knew existed. And, not one of us can deny that his sometimes-silly jokes bring a smile to our faces. He is unique and stands by his values and interests, despite their non-conformity. He wears his dorkiness like a peacock wears its feathers; it fits him and gives him distinction. His actual manner, however, is far from ostentatious. He neither makes himself out to be, nor does he perceive himself to be, better than any other.... If a dork I am called, a dork I will gladly remain; for, though acceptance is a basic human desire, truth to oneself is an utter necessity.

--Brian F. Patterson