Undergraduate / 'Knowledge' - Stanford: What matters to you, and why? [4]

I recently started working on Stanford's prompt of What matters to you, and why? This is a rough draft..just kind of threw some ideas out there. Any feedback would be great! Thanks.

Through trials and hardships, I have come to realize that what matters in life is knowledge. Not only is knowledge power, it is what makes our world go round, and it unconsciously frees us from our ignorance. The power we gain from our knowledge is best achieved through long periods of exercise. It is built. As a society, exercising our knowledge has only allowed us to accomplish the things that previous generations only dreamt about, we have been able to reach the moon, build airplanes, and descend into the sea and sky. Knowledge has proven to be my best friend in so many ways, whether it was gained through experiences, readings, or eye capturing events. The mistakes that I have made or witnessed others make has only given me more knowledge, making me wiser and ensuring that I do not make those same mistakes. Our whole world revolves around the knowledge that has been passed down through hundreds of generations. What would have happened if an apple had not hit Newton in the head, or if the great philosophers of the Enlightenment Era never wrote down their ideas? Knowing that knowledge is power only motivates me to gain the most I can. I want to have endless opportunities in this life and create my own legacy through my knowledge. The knowledge I gain now will be passed down through generations and I only hope that it will inspire future people the same way it did to me.

Undergraduate / 'a giant leap for mankind' - Stanford supplement: intellectual vitality [4]

Stanford students possess an intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development. This is my rough draft so please be honest. Any help would be great!

"That's one small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind" those were the exact words spoken by Neil Armstrong that inspired a whole planet as he became the first man to ever walk the surface of the moon. This triumph was not his alone. If not for the engineers, mechanics, and dreams made it all possible. The weight of his words set a spark inside me, reassuring me that impossible is only limited by my own imagination. The work of a generation was made real, and a myth of legends had finally come true. My imagination was then reset to new limits; limits that I was inspired to overcome, that will empower others to talk about me the same way they do about the lunar landing. This mere act of challenging destiny has inspired me to write my own.

What is stopping us from reaching even greater heights like reaching Mars or finding the cure for the common cold? This single small step that challenged destiny will only lead to hundreds of giant leaps. My mind is put to awe by this accomplishment but at the same time it is excited for the future. The innovation of reaching the moon will only enable me to think outside the box in ways never presented. This intriguing event inspires me to prove what others think is impossible is only potential; potential that I will chase and use to prove that impossible is just a word thrown around by individuals who do not want to explore their own potential. I will challenge society's current self-imposed limits pushing myself beyond my imagination's barrier of what is possible and what is not.