Undergraduate / "I am a very laidback person" - Stanford Supplement, to future roommate [6]

I always have trouble describing myself, so any comments about content, grammar, whatever would be appreciated. Thanks.

What would you want your future roommate to know about you?

I am a very laidback person and have different types of friends, so chances are we will get along just fine. While I enjoy hanging out with my friends, I know when I need to buckle down and work on my studies. I am a hard worker at school and at work. School is important, but I also know how to have a good time. A large part of my spare time involves sports, mainly football. Whether I am out on the local course playing a round of golf with friends or watching the game on any Sunday afternoon, I can assure you I am having a good time. I am known throughout my school and community as the Raiders fan. Living in Ohio, I am one of two local Raiders fans, the other being my dad. Going to the Bay Area, I hope to find other fellow fans, even if they are not Raiders fans, I can watch any game with any sports fans. The weird thing is that even though I am known to be a huge sports fan, I am also known to be very smart, mainly in mathematics. I will be covered head to toe in Raiders gear one minute, and then crack open my calculus book to do some homework after the game. I am the type of person you find in the stadium covered in spikes and wearing a Raiders helmet who goes home to his day job where he is an accountant or a schoolteacher. One minute you will find me studying, and the next I will be out playing backyard basketball with some friends. I love success in my schoolwork just as much as I love scoring the winning touchdown or watching the Oakland Raiders trounce an opponent. The variety in my interests makes me unique and able to befriend all different types of people, so I am sure no matter who my roommate is we will become good friends.

Undergraduate / Intellectually engaging idea and what makes stanford a good place for you [5]

What makes Stanford a good place for you?

I believe Stanford University is the best college choice for me. When researching colleges I noticed that Stanford is among the very best schools in the country overall and, more specifically, for my future major-engineering. I currently live in a small Appalachian town in Ohio, and I really would like to get out to a larger area and broaden my horizon. The difference in environment and diversity between here and Stanford really sparks my interest. I want to give myself the best chance possible to gain every opportunity that I can during school and after graduation, and I feel that Stanford gives me a great chance to do so. I do not want to go to just any local school, what I want to do is go to a prestigious school that is going to challenge me to reach my full potential. Stanford is good for me because I will work hard at all my classes and school work, and I will be fully prepared for the challenges ahead. Throughout school I have not always been challenged nearly enough, especially in my math courses. I have been very successful in math all through school, even in my current calculus class, with little or no difficulty. I am sure that Stanford would be different, and I am excited for the challenge that it would bring to me. I hope to have the opportunity to further my education and open up many opportunities for myself by being accepted to Stanford University.

Describe an idea you find to be intelectually engaging.

The story of how we came to be on this earth is an interesting topic to most everyone, and I am no different. It all started in my senior year of high school when we were required to write a research paper for my college composition class. I struggled for a week to come up with a good topic that really caught my interest, until, finally, I came up with one. I have a very factual and scientific mindset, so I wanted my paper to be in the scientific field. I decided to write my paper on the theory of evolution. I needed something that I would be able to write a lot about, and I really felt that this would be good for me. After researching my topic, I became more and more interested in it. I found the debate between creationism and evolution to be intellectually engaging, and my paper, basically, began writing itself. I enjoyed finding a new fact to support my position, and the topic of evolution became very intriguing. Before this paper, I did not have much of an opinion on this topic, and I never even really thought much about it. Now, however, I know what I believe, and I find it very difficult to believe the other side. Even after I finished my research paper, I still find myself looking up information on my own time. It is something that we probably will never know the truth for sure, and the idea that so many people can tie so much evidence to a theory on something that would have occurred many years ago is simply captivating.