Porque Yo Quier

When I was nine years old, my favorite movie was E.T., flying bicycle, Reese's Pieces, and all. The scene that pierced my heart, though, was where E.T., gray and unconscious, lay dying in a stream. Ididn't understand then that E.T.'s crisis came from the thinness of Earth's atmosphere. He needed richer air to breathe.

And, symbolically, so do I. The academic and cultural atmosphere atWashington and Lee (W&L) is too thin for me. Certainly others here are prospering, but I am in need of greater specific substance. Here I can't find the variety of majors offered at Yale. I know now that mylife's passion is languages. I need a school that offers a linguistics major. I've tried to compensate here by maintaining my German skills and starting to learn Russian. I have even taken on Hindistudies on my own, outside of class. This has been frustrating on two fronts. I receive no credit for my independent language studies and, within my formal language classes, there is practically nolinguistic context. There is just not enough teaching depth.

Another area where W&L starves me is the arts. Several years ago, I began my study of classical guitar. This has now become a vibrant,central part of my life. W&L's faculty, however, has no classical guitarist with whom I may study. This sounds hard to believe, but I am the only classical guitarist on campus. Yale offers not only thetradition of Eliot Fisk through world-class guitarist Ben Verdery, but also a group of talented guitar students who stimulate an aura of infinite possibilities. For example, during a visit to Yale, Imet first-year student Alex Henry who also plays classical guitar. His academics, musicianship, and dedication to the guitar inspired me to raise my own level of performance in these areas. This is thekind experience W&L does not offer.

Such teachers and students live outside of the classroom as well. The diversity of people and opportunity adds to the richness of Yale. The residential...