Undergraduate / "The forming of my identity" - psychology supplement for U of M [7]

Prompt: Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate college or school to which you are applying at the U of M. How would that curriculum support your interests? (500 words max.)

The forming of my identity has been an arduous process. It is best explained by psychologist Erik Erikson's stages of development. It first required a confidence in the future of the world which I acquired when I first began to read novels, realizing the problems I faced had been faced by countless people before me. The next stage was early childhood, when one gains control over their own actions. At this stage, I was forced to research and advocate for my own lessons and summer activities. I now have a strong sense of where my interests lie. The Play Age stage was when I began to question the world. I soon realized how precious the rare glimpses of authenticity were to me, masked by socially acceptable behaviour. During the school age, I developed a strong sense of capability through being exposed to leadership positions at my elementary school. The stage I deem the most important is adolescence. This can be the most challenging for humans, as they discover who they are as individuals separate from their family. By immersing myself in other cultures on language exchanges, immersion programs, and volunteer opportunities interacting with children of impoverished communities, my values and self-image have been put into question, thus I slowly developed my own world view separate from my family or culture.

I have to conclude that Erikson was misguided when assigning ages to accompany his stages of development. I am 17 years old, and while my peers embark on their college journey as a time to separate from their families and discover their place in the world, I can say I thoroughly know myself. I am a proud feminist and a dedicated vegetarian, and I am prepared to take action in campus life at U of M.

Once I became confident in my sense of self, I began to watch the ways in which others' identities were being shaped and thus decided psychology was my passion. I watched as children at the rehabilitation center where I volunteered last year developed into boastful and lax swimmers through overly-encouraging parents, or into children insecure about their swimming abilities from their parents continuously labeling them as "stupid." Because I recognize how important fulfilling each stage of development is, I want to devote my time to help others make sense of their role in their community.

U of M is an environment where I can connect to children struggling to find their sense of self. Participating in the Child Violence and Trauma Lab, I can observe how exposure to Intimate Partner Violence affects the development of children. I can play an active role with Ozone House, helping runaway, homeless and high-risk youth re-evaluate their sense of self. I even want to help my own peers develop their world views, by participating in the North American Summer Service Team, and watching as they grow through immersion in communities throughout North America.

Erikson states that it is harder to reach later stages if one is lacking the earlier. My strong sense of self is the result of gradually achieving each stage of development. I recognize how important factors influencing our development are, such as culture and family environments. My goal is to help others realize that by exposing themselves to diverse experiences, they will be able to determine their own identity just as I have.

This is only a rough draft, but I would really appreciate feedback!

Undergraduate / "I will feast on an extravagant meal" - interest of study, my essay for Georgetown [3]

Georgetown College: Please relate your interest in studying at Georgetown University to your goals. How do these thoughts relate to your chosen course of study?

One of the ways I experience cultures is through cuisine. I have eaten flautas in Mexico, lingonberry jam in Sweden, poutine in Quebec, and platanos asados in Costa Rica. I have compared the spicy taste of Mexican food to the bland taste of Swedish, and through this have formulated my ideal tastes. The same way, I have compared cultural behaviours of each ethnic group and through this have formulated my own values.

But tasting these dishes has not been as easy as it sounds. From a young age, I developed a strong desire to experience the cultures of the world and move away from my homogeneous Jewish, privileged environment. With much convincing, I was given the opportunity to travel on language exchanges and immersion programs. I began to love what these opportunities gave me: they questioned values that had been engrained in me. I have grown from these experience with a strong world view. These immersion experiences have proven so beneficial to me that I have tried to replicate them in my own home through cooking the dishes I tasted in that country. But to my disappointment, I can never get the enchiladas just right, or else the plantains are lacking the freshness of those in Costa Rica.

Through living with a host family on my exchange in Mexico and volunteering with locals while on an immersion program in Quebec, I learned that what interests me the most is how one's identity is influenced by family and culture. I seek to understand these cultural values in greater depth. Georgetown is a hub of cultural diversity. The Hawaii Club, La Société Francophone, and Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Georgetown are all areas I wish to get involved in to learn about the lifestyle of those cultures. I am also interested in how various experiences can affect a person's sense of self. Erik Erikson examined how a person develops independence, sense of capability, but most importantly a sense of who they are as members of wider society. I wish to fully immerse myself in the study of psychology to understand factors that affect our sense of self. I would specialize in "Conceptual and Developmental Foundations" and get involved with the research of Professor Phillips, whose passion for her subject transcends beyond the classroom.

While many of my peers will be entering university in search of their role as an individual, my many experiences living with other families and interacting with various socio-economic groups have allowed me to determine my own values separate from those of my family. I have emerged as an independent-thinker, with a strong world view and a sense of capability. I am a passionate feminist and a dedicated vegetarian. I want to advocate for these groups during my years at Georgetown. But most importantly, because I have developed my own sense of self, I want to help others develop theirs. Erikson's stage of development when one discovers their role in wider society requires one to become removed from their own culture. I wish to encourage immigrants to part with their own cultural values and instead create their own, which I can do through the D.C. Schools Project. By participating in Prison Outreach, I can expose in-mates to literature and academic disciplines, and through this they can determine their own values. By participating in Girl Talk, I can help adolescent girls make sense of their role in the world. With Dance DC, by sharing my passion for tap dance and hip hop with underprivileged children , they can develop self-confidence through the performing arts .

Obama described the United States not as a Christian nation, a Muslim nation, or a Jewish nation, but a nation of citizens bound by ideals and sets of values. I believe this is best seen in Washington, which is a mixture of Native people, people of Latino, European, Asian and African descent. At Georgetown, I will no longer have to actively seek out various cultural dishes that I can only taste for a short period of time. Rather, I will feast on an extravagant meal of Afghan batter fried eggplant, a thickend gazpacho of Spanish Salmorejo, Italian pizza al taglio, and Indian gujarat.

Please be critical! I welcome all feedback. Thank you so much.