Deo's Strength In What Remains

Deo is a brilliant student. He has experienced hardship, has overcome adversity, and has the diversity and personality this school is looking for. Deo should be admitted to Columbia University. After meeting with Deo, my decision was clear, he is well balanced and has the passion necessary to succeed in this school.
Deo has had more experience and willingness to learn than any other freshmen student applying for Columbia. In the novel Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder, Deo had completed three years of medical school in his home country of Burundi. Deo all ways tried to do his best at school, “ Grades were posted periodically for all to see, on a bulletin board. His name consistently appeared in the top five (Kidder 92),” revealing that Deo is smart and tries hard on everything that he does. He also has intellectual curiosity

After Deo’s journey through Rwanda and back into Burundi he had witnessed and heard horrific and gruesome things. No matter what happens Deo kept pushing forward. After one terrible day Deo thought, that he was “aware of being afraid, not of dying….Not the he wanted to die. Not that he wanted desperately to live. Survival simply had its own momentum” (Kidder 139). Deo, even through the hard times found the will to live and go on, no matter what the circumstances he got back up and kept. Another example of this is when Deo is in New York City, Deo did not like the living conditions of PEN, an apartment complex, so he slept in central park with the homeless. Deo understood that being homeless was undesirable, but he tried to make the best of the unsatisfactory situation. Deo found a quiet corner of the park that was peaceful and serene. He imagined he was back home in Burundi laying under the stars. Deo took a bad situation of being without a place to live and turned it into something enjoyable. Pushing through adversity is a quality that is highly