By Paul Astih

Beirut- The workshop launched by the nominated Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri to compose his upcoming cabinet has resembled many other workshops launched by other nominated Prime Ministers who worked on distributing quotas and ministerial portfolios based on sects, and political and partisan belonging. However, Hariri’s mission may be the hardest from years, because Lebanese political parties have raced to partake in the rule, months before the next parliamentary elections, aiming at taking advantage of their ministerial portfolios to draw voters in May.

Hariri’s mission was more complicated with the coming apart of 8 and 14 March blocks and the failure of alliances composed in 2005 after the assassination of the Former Prime Minister Rafic Al-Hariri. Meanwhile, the young Hariri cannot distribute ministries based on political blocks anymore, but he is obliged to deal with each party as an independent political team.

The upcoming Hariri cabinet, which is expected to see the light soon, is the 74th cabinet in Lebanon since the independence on 1948, and the seventh since 2015. Probably, it will be a “national unity” cabinet, which means it will comprise all the political forces just like his previous 30-minister government in 2009.

#LiveLoveLebanon

By Jessica Yeager, Contributor

There’s a lot riding on each college application. Now that we are getting close to application deadlines, I wanted to share some mistakes students make that really hurt their chances of being accepted at their dream colleges. 

1. Starting too late

My college essay (that got me into Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, Cornell, and Columbia) took me months to write. The one college I was rejected from (Princeton) didn’t get that essay; instead I sent Princeton four short answers that I waited until the weekend before to send. Not too surprising that I didn’t get in. You really want to give yourself plenty of time to develop your unique story, so don’t wait to start your essay. Start today, if you haven’t already!

2. Being generic

It’s so easy for your application to look like everyone else’s, and admissions officers literally spend only a few minutes with your application. It’s so important that you stand out. Your essay should tell the admissions committee something unique about who you are and what you’ll bring to the campus that the rest of your application doesn’t.

3. Burning yourself out

This one starts even before you start filling out your application. So many students think the only way to get into Harvard or Yale is by joining 17 clubs, playing three sports, volunteering at the local hospital a few hours a week, and taking seven AP courses. Usually this only leads to burnout and isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get into your dream college. In fact, schools may interpret it as not really knowing yourself and what you want to do. Focusing on a few interests you really care about and going deep can really set you apart.