by L. L., Los Altos Andrew Whitworth, a successful NFL athlete, once said, “If you’re a true warrior, competition doesn’t scare you. It makes you better.” But what is competition, at its core? Is it pitting students against each other and encouraging them to put...
by David L., Palo Alto Today, when you go to work, most of the roads you travel on are very congested and filled with cars. Even on the widest of highways, each lane is filled with hundreds of automobiles. With everyone trying to get to their destination safely,...
Do you feel like you can improve your reading? Many people think reading is simply going from one word to the next until done, but there's more to becoming a truly effective and efficient reader. The following 12 tips can help you become a better reader. 1. Read...
by Niveda A., Milpitas When I was in sixth grade, I was an incredibly nationalistic young person. I used to think that the United States was a flawless nation, including a perfect legal system, government, and society. Also when I was in sixth grade, every student was...
by Alice L., Cupertino In the book Anne of Green Gables, Anne undergoes many developments and changes as she grows up. Anne starts the story as an unloved orphan, but she ultimately grows into a young school teacher who can take care of others. From an ugly wincey...
by N. W., Los Gatos The following essay was written as part of IYE’s biannual timed writing assessment. We’ve left in a few minor errors because the essay is well written. It’s impressive work, and even more impressive in that it was written in 45 minutes. Chips...
by Nidhi S., Pleasanton The following essay was written as part of IYE’s biannual timed writing assessment. We’ve left in a few minor errors because the essay is well written. It’s impressive work, and even more impressive in that it was written in 45 minutes. Summer...
by A. Zhang, Cupertino Cancer exists as one of today’s most deadly illnesses. Millions die each year around the world with no solution, and many of them cannot afford the treatment. However, the cure to cancer would solve all those problems. When this illness finally...
by Benjamin Wu, Palo Alto Of the many games that exist currently, one of my favorites is chess. It is a game that has been around for thousands of years. Currently, it is played by millions of people, with some even devoting their careers to it in hopes that they will...
by Cayden Gu, Palo Alto Following the global spread of TikTok, videos have become the most important form of content. From copy cats like Instagram Reels to Youtube Shorts, videos have become a necessity for living and learning in a 21st century world. However, the...
by greenbookworm3, Sunnyvale Have you ever been to one of your friend’s house and they said, “Are you okay with having an animal around you? It’s a…” I don’t know about you, but I certainly have. My parents have never had pets other than fish. I have always wondered...
by Niveda A., Milpitas The Ghirardelli Chocolate Caramel Squares TV Ad is the worst piece of video media ever produced in the history of mankind. Every time I watch it, an intense wave of rage and hatred sweeps through me. To clarify, I am not exaggerating. The ad...
by Max Wang, Palo Alto The following essay was written as part of IYE’s biannual timed writing assessment. We’ve left in a few minor errors because the essay is outstanding in its organization, examples, and creativity. It’s impressive work, and even more impressive...
by Anna Yang, Austin ‘The’ or ‘A’ sets the tone for a story. Can you feel the aura changing as soon as you hear ‘the,’ a definite, distinctive, person that we all should have known beforehand or ‘a,’ an arbitrary human randomly selected? ‘A’ distances readers; ‘the’...
by J. L., Sunnyvale One blows away the dust, And opens the hard, leather cover. The smell is of old papyrus, Evoking clouds of nostalgia. The pages wrinkle and crackle, like senile firecrackers. Warmth is rediscovered at the touch of the page; Stories that were...
by Naomi Hsu, Belmont A few years ago, I watched Legally Blonde for the first time. I clearly remember fangirling over the protagonist, Elle Woods. She was smart, funny pretty: what more was there to ask for of a character? But what stays imprinted in my memory till...
by Irene Xu, Davis My favorite places outside of my home are bookstores, all kinds of them, from the ones that are big and showy, right in the middle of a busy business street and with lots of people reading a book or enjoying a cup of coffee, to the ones located in...
by Aarthi Hariharan, Pleasanton There is an eight-year-old going to school, playing with her friends, and living a normal life. An eight-year-old immersed in her world -- learning about the arm bones, animals in the world, and basic multiplication -- is told that her...
by A. Lin, Los Altos Launching rockets with multi-million-dollar satellites on top from Florida’s beautiful Space Coast. Sending space probes to the moon, Mars, the Asteroid Belt, and beyond. Landing rovers on the red planet to seek signs of ancient microbial life....
by L. Z., Saratoga In highly competitive academic environments, the question of a healthy and emotional life is often forgotten by teachers and even parents. School counselors are not trained to help students with other problems or conflicts in their lives, especially...
by Gavin Weng, Los Altos Since the 1950s, Americans have strived to be ahead in the international space race, competing with other countries to reach new places in space and now trying to innovate in space tourism, flying regular people out of our humble homes and...
by Aarushi J., Cupertino As a child, I couldn’t wait till the day I turned thirteen, to finally become a teenager. The teenage years are glorified everywhere. Movies and books are all about the adventures of teenagers. From Harry Potter to Nancy Drew, I was drawn into...
by C. Hsu, Belmont Since musicians are often viewed as the embodiment of poverty, students and parents wonder if universities should help music majors specialize in more practical jobs or completely eradicate a traditional music major course, allowing for more career...
by Zoe S., Los Altos Each year, humans produce enough food to feed ten billion people, but much of that food is wasted, which contributes to global warming. Growing my own food would ensure that I would be more sustainable. Gardening is a very educational project that...
by Alex X., Mountain View The temperature of the planet slowly rises, bit by bit. Racism becomes more widespread as small actions pile up, clearly displaying our society’s flaws. People forget the past, allowing history to repeat itself. This is because nobody likes...
by Erin Nam, Sunnyvale Status symbols are used to portray someone’s social rank, and there are many reasons why these status symbols are attractive. To some people, status symbols may seem useless while to others, status symbols are very important. The main reason...
by Shiori Chen, Belmont Children should be having fun during their childhood, but school limits this. In his poem “The Schoolboy”, William Blake uses analogies to spread his opinion of children being restricted from having fun or growing healthily during school. In...
by May Chan, Cupertino Question: Should students be given a 20-minute period each day in school, for the purpose of reading any non-school book they choose? If so, where would the extra time come from? If not, why not? From novels to comics, reading offers a varied...
By E.C., Palo Alto As the students get on the bus to volunteer at a poor nearby school, some students slump toward the bus while others continue laughing with their friends like they hold no regard for volunteering. The bus ride to the school is a constant buzz,...
by A. W., Palo Alto During study hall, unsure students discuss among each other: “What did you get for question 5 on the physics worksheet?” Others have already given up on their engineering homework and have stooped to consulting the answer key. CS students post...
by A. W., Palo Alto Students whisper to each other in the back of the room; one student texts on his phone, while another pulls out his graphing calculator to cheat. The teacher’s constant attempts to make the class focus have failed. These students seem to have no...
by K. Tang, Palo Alto In the past 60 years, the average total annual work hours of U.S. citizens has decreased by about 200 hours, and it is projected to continue to decrease in the near future. This reduction in work hours is logical as automation and overseas...
Is your child a reluctant reader? Consider Sustained Silent Reading (SSR). The process is simple: set aside 15-20 minutes a day for everyone in the family to read allow children to choose their reading material set a schedule and stick to it What are the benefits?...
As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases below. Do you have a young child who’s ready to start the wonderful adventure of reading? Here is a list of books that will introduce nascent readers to the boundless realms of imagination that only books...
As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases below. What to Read After You've Read Harry Potter Entry 1: Fablehaven by Brandon Mull Genre: Fantasy Goodreads score: 4.08 out of 5 (109,941 ratings) Amazon score: 4.7 out of 5 (1,189 reviews) Popularity:...
by Connor Y., Palo Alto Success has no restrictions; every victory counts, regardless if it’s winning a basketball game in one’s youth or becoming a millionaire in old age. However, the topic of success stirs up hot debate. Many people think that others cannot become...
Recently, I had a webinar with some IYE parents about what they can do to support their kids’ reading and writing. One parent mentioned iPads in the schools. Apparently, her son is in 6th grade, and his private school has given each child an iPad that will be required...
Sound impossible? It’s not. In fact, two of our sophomores recently did. Another one came very close. That’s three sophomores from Improve Your English with perfect or near-perfect scores. Savannah (we’ve changed all the names) scored 800 Reading and 800 Writing (2400...
Really? Admitted to Columbia, Cornell, Tufts, and Pomona--but not UC Berkeley? This happened to an IYE college counseling student. She was admitted to top private colleges, but not to the top UC. Such cases are becoming more and more common. For California students,...
At Improve Your English, what does a year’s worth of vocab look like? For one of our seventh-graders, last year, it looked like this. Between June 2015 and June 2016, the student learned and was tested on these 492 words (many of them with multiple definitions). They...
by Linda Fan, 10th Grade Today, there is a huge diversity of video games, from Life is Strange, a time travel graphic adventure that explores the consequences of the “butterfly effect” to Undertale, an indie role-playing game that encourages pacifism. Yet video games...
by Michelle W., 7th Grade One day, my mom and dad told us that we were going to travel to China in the summer. The day before the trip, both Daniel and I were very excited. We packed our suitcases and went to sleep earlier than usual because our flight was early in...
by E.K., Palo Alto Cultures all over the world memorialize death in different manners, from the celebratory style of Mexico's Dia de Los Muertos to the solemn ceremony of the United States. Typically, cultures memorialize the death after the person in question passes...
by Iris Zhou, Sunnyvale When I hear the words "growing older," my mind is flooded with thoughts of going to college and spending hours upon hours with my nose in a textbook, studying for midterms and finals. I think of writing resumes, attending job interviews, and...
by Jeffrey Mi, Palo Alto My friend and I had known each other from 6th grade. We sat next to each other in math class, and our friendship started from there. Soon, we would go to each other’s houses every other week to either play Bridge together or just have dinner....
by E. Z., Los Altos Climate change is a hotly debated topic, and rather than pushing for actual change, many people deny it is real or instead blame population growth without any meaningful discussions. Carbon dioxide emissions, which are the main cause of global...