Hello,
This is the second essay on my list.
Question: Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date, explaining why you view them as such. (400 words approx.)
A. During a three-month surveying assignment in Afghanistan, I learned perseverance, survival and cross-cultural sharing. As leader of a team of three engineers, I had to keep the team motivated and safe, despite the constant threat of land mines, kidnapping and winter snowstorms. My physical strength and emotional sanity were severely challenged by the constant struggle for existence. Caught in a blizzard in the 14,000 foot high Hindu Kush mountains, we spent one freezing night in a car with only raisins and water. But I put aside my inner feelings and kept a cool head, leading the team as we marched through abandoned battlefields. To communicate with our local workers, I learned the local dialects of Dari and Pashto; I was honored by their friendship and was even invited into their homes to share their culture. On urgent request from the Indian Embassy, I filled in for my manager and successfully planned and conducted, with the help of the US Air Force, an aerial survey over the Taliban-held Salang Mountains. My intense experience during this assignment made me appreciate the value of human life. In spite of the devastation and lawlessness, I experienced a new culture and tradition that I will cherish forever.
B. Back in university, I organized a group of classmates to rescue a 10-year old girl from her abusive uncle, a tenured professor and superintendent of my dorm. The battered child had been turned over to me, the dorm's "mess manager," by the kitchen staff, who had helped her with food in the past. Being from a poor village, the child was sent by her parents to stay with her uncle, with hope for better education and upbringing. We learned she had escaped from the professor's home after a year of constant abuse by her uncle and aunt. I convinced four close friends to join me in contacting the local police. We filed a complaint against the couple, and found her a government-run shelter. We then had to track down her unsuspecting parents. We pressed charges against the professor, who tried to retaliate against us; he also threatened me upon hearing I was to testify against him in court. Eventually, the professor and his wife were heavily fined and warned of dire consequences for repeat actions. Thankfully, the girl was reunited with her parents, and went back to a local school near her village. In many ways I wish this "accomplishment" never had to happen. In this case, defying the status-quo was my only choice.
This is the second essay on my list.
Question: Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date, explaining why you view them as such. (400 words approx.)
A. During a three-month surveying assignment in Afghanistan, I learned perseverance, survival and cross-cultural sharing. As leader of a team of three engineers, I had to keep the team motivated and safe, despite the constant threat of land mines, kidnapping and winter snowstorms. My physical strength and emotional sanity were severely challenged by the constant struggle for existence. Caught in a blizzard in the 14,000 foot high Hindu Kush mountains, we spent one freezing night in a car with only raisins and water. But I put aside my inner feelings and kept a cool head, leading the team as we marched through abandoned battlefields. To communicate with our local workers, I learned the local dialects of Dari and Pashto; I was honored by their friendship and was even invited into their homes to share their culture. On urgent request from the Indian Embassy, I filled in for my manager and successfully planned and conducted, with the help of the US Air Force, an aerial survey over the Taliban-held Salang Mountains. My intense experience during this assignment made me appreciate the value of human life. In spite of the devastation and lawlessness, I experienced a new culture and tradition that I will cherish forever.
B. Back in university, I organized a group of classmates to rescue a 10-year old girl from her abusive uncle, a tenured professor and superintendent of my dorm. The battered child had been turned over to me, the dorm's "mess manager," by the kitchen staff, who had helped her with food in the past. Being from a poor village, the child was sent by her parents to stay with her uncle, with hope for better education and upbringing. We learned she had escaped from the professor's home after a year of constant abuse by her uncle and aunt. I convinced four close friends to join me in contacting the local police. We filed a complaint against the couple, and found her a government-run shelter. We then had to track down her unsuspecting parents. We pressed charges against the professor, who tried to retaliate against us; he also threatened me upon hearing I was to testify against him in court. Eventually, the professor and his wife were heavily fined and warned of dire consequences for repeat actions. Thankfully, the girl was reunited with her parents, and went back to a local school near her village. In many ways I wish this "accomplishment" never had to happen. In this case, defying the status-quo was my only choice.
