What got me into MIT (I think, anyway)

The last paragraph is what did it, I think...

I felt great pride when my school selected me as one of its representatives to the country-wide competition sponsored by the King AbdulAziz Foundation for Gifted Students, which entailed selecting 4 winners who would be granted scholarships to pre-college programs at MIT.   I became one amongst over 450 11^th graders selected to compete.

I am proud to report that I achieved the highest countrywide test mark. Naturally, I was informed by the program administrators that I would selected to enroll into the RSI program (The Research Science Institute, sponsored by The Center of Excellence in Education, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

I was so excited that I earned the chance to be one of only four Saudi students to go. Yet, circumstances managed to turn this proud moment into a truly upsetting one. Unfortunately, I was denied the chance to go when conservative members of the board of trustees of the foundation managed to cancel female participation in the program.

At first, I felt devastated. I couldn’t understand why they were being so unfair. My parents were also very upset with this highly discriminatory decision, and countered it by offering me to go to a similar program, at their expense. I therefore decided that I would not let some close-minded members of the society to get in the way of my ambition and education as a fulfilled and proud Saudi woman.

After researching various alternatives, I applied to four pre-college programs, and got accepted into all four; Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Yale and The University of Pennsylvania. Upon closer investigation, I found The University of Pennsylvania (Penn)’s program to be the most suitable for my interests and future academic pursuits.  Although all the universities’ acceptances overwhelmed me with joy, I was particularly fond of Penn’s program, as it seemed tailor-made for me.  It would give me the American university study experience, and help me experience a diverse student body, sharing our cultures and backgrounds. In addition, Architecture, the subject of study I was admitted to, has always been a passion of mine.

My summer at Penn nurtured my perspective on college life; I’ve always wanted to study Architecture, but experiencing the life and the subject first-hand proved to me that my long lasting dream was in fact achievable. I saw that I could handle living on my own as a college student, and that Architecture was truly an amazing field of study.

Now, more determined than ever, I am adamant on availing myself the opportunity to attend MIT, an opportunity that was taken away from me for the silly and discriminatory reason of gender. Had it not been for me being robbed of the chance to attend as a summer student, I might not be as resolved to set things right as I am now, and diligent to realize my aspiration, which is the reason for my application. Being Saudi and female was the reason I was deprived of this honor. Therefore, I am determined to succeed in life as a prominent, sophisticated, and educated Saudi woman, and prove to future female generations that it is possible to live up to our ambitions, even if we have to fight slightly more for them.