Undergraduate / UCHICAGO How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire [7]

I belong to the group of people who believe that human learning is a posteriori. After all, I haven't really experienced University of Chicago, but the knowledge I have is based on the experiences of others and this is the kind of experience is what I can relate to.

I spent one year of my high school was spent in the northern part of Nigeria. In the first few weeks of class, the books assigned for reading had little to no science and more religious content, which was quite interesting for a few weeks but became a drug for sleeping in class. We were not allowed to buy any science books, especially biology, I think because of the conflict about the creation man. As usually, I had to make my voice heard. Before the beginning of class, I would write on the board "We need more books"

I tried to convince my teacher, who graduated from a school outside the region, to talk to the principal about allowing some science textbooks. My teacher understood, but his good intention was driven by the money he would make from getting the books from a known supplier, which I taught was really wrong, but didn't know how to react, maybe I was selfish. With my teacher's help, we started a paradigm shift that would take a long time for a significant change to occur because the school was literally owned by a rich Muslim cleric. Unfortunately, I was frustrated out of the school because my ideas were in conflict with what the school wanted.

This experience shaped my idea of what my dream school should be like, a place where different cultures and ideas are not only embraced but how these cultures can shape me and I it. A place where an idea would pierce the heart of everyone in class, due to its small size, rather than fade in the crowd; I believe University of Chicago is that place. Having decided to study Economics, University of Chicago is a place where I finally can have a chance to pose questions like why an increase in a country's GDP does not translate to economic development for all classes or how the improvement in education and economic policy can curb the threat of terrorism around the world. These questions wouldn't be answered by debating alone, but by having a state of the art research facility, which University of Chicago provides for students.

My future goal is to contribute, in one way or another, to the development of new theories that reduce poverty and inequality. To achieve this goal, University of Chicago would be a great help to foster an environment where students of all religion and race can challenge my different ideas and have supporting or opposing theories about economic problems .A school with so much Nobel laureate winner is a place where fear is absence and curiosity is abundant is a place where I can truly be prepared to have an impact in the society.

University of Chicago is a place whose great professors have tackled complex question and provided solution to social problems. One question I, myself, encountered during the presidential debate was if we were better off now to four years ago. Of course, both candidates, as usual, gave answers supporting their campaign, but none gave a convincing answer. However, what I do know is that I would be better off in University of Chicago.

Undergraduate / I kept silent about my sickness; UCHICAGO Supp - (SILENCE) [9]

Susan Sontag, AB'51, wrote that "Silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech." Write about an issue or a situation in
which you remained silent, and explain how silence may speak in ways that you did or did not intend. e Aesthetics of Silence, 1967.

My eyes were closed but i could smell of disinfectant in the air, the quiet sound of constantly moving feet. I was not sure were i was. I gradually opened my eyes and realized i was at the hospital and saw my mum asleep. I didn't know how i got here , but i knew i was responsible.

Ever since i was i child, i have had difficulty breathing. My parents couldn't afford or take the chance for me to undergo a risky operation. However, there were preventive measures i could take if i was every vigilant about the symptoms.

Over the years, i have always been told my parents about my symptoms, but every time i tell them about the first sign, i notice sher anguish and terror. I felt sad everytime i put them through the sam thing again and again, so i decided to take care of my self and show my independece.

When i noticed symptoms again in school, i kept it to my self. My professor asked if everything was okay, but feeling dizzing and tire, i said nothing, hoping to get home and take care of myself.

It happened ! All i could remember was the sweat all over my body, the salty taste in my mouth and somehow listening to my mum saying why, why, why.

Now fully awake, seeing my mother in tears. She was scared and at the same time angry with me." why did you keep silent or am i doing a bad job at this ?", my mother siad.

I was surprised andin tears that my intention was misread . My keeping silence was to relieve the the pressure she had but i somehow increased it exponentially.

My intention was to learn to be independent, but i also learnt what silence was.If there was one thing i took away from this, it is that silence is not only a form of speech, but it is has an attidude of its own; it is like a sign that can be misinterpreted or translated for us. It is better we let our voices heard. For me, i didn't know the words to express my desires without hurting my parents because words are like broken eggs that can't be taken back once said.However, silence is not a good alternative.

/ thanks. BE VERY MEAN PLS

Undergraduate / I won four rounds; UCHICAGO SUPP_ARCH NENEMIS [6]

A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies." -Oscar Wilde.
Othello and Iago. Dorothy and the Wicked Witch. e Autobots and the Decepticons. History and art are full of heroes and their enemies.
Tell us about the relationship between you and your arch-nemesis (either real or imagined

Evanston, not has windy has Chicago, but living close to the lake surely feels like it. The view of lake from my room looks beautiful and calm, unlike my sleep last night. It made me think about the immense power of God, but I ask myself if God is listening to my prayers. I lost last night's battle to my arch nemesis, sleep, just like I have done many previous nights before and the lady gaga's song playing in my neighbor's apartment didn't help. It is easy for some people to underestimate the power of sleep. For me, it is very difficult to sleep. Sleep is like a gladiator I do battle with eight to nine hours available to sleep, in which I win one to two hours.

My battle with sleep started about the time our house burned down and I have been on a losing streak ever since. However, I have tried everything humanly possible to defeat sleep. I have even tried using well known law (sleep) enforcement like lorezepam, lunesta, but they have all failed me.

However, December 12 would be different because I had my final exams in my calculus two class. This exams would decide if I got an A or experience the agony of a B, moreover I had new plan for both passing my exams and sleep, which I called the natural knockout out.

Firstly, I had to over the laborious experience of eat vegetables, including BROCLL for breakfast, which I somehow overcame by imagining my vegetable was same has the vegetables in the Progresso commercial.

Later in the day, I decided to finish reading Robert Ludlum's Apocalypse Watch. The key to this new plan was to be tired both physically and mentally so I decided to play soccer for about three hours. Feeling physically tired, I had to make my brain feel the same. Reviewing my test was relatively easier, but my thought began to drift has I got closer to bed time. It was the countdown of a boxing match between Muhammad Ali, I, and mike Tyson, which was sleep.

10pm, on my bed just staring at Isaac Newton's dark eye brown on my ceiling. 10:30PM, still nothing. BUM BUM, my neighbor has decided to help out mike Tyson, sleep, by playing 50 cent. 11:30, I decided I also needed help. I put on head phone and searched for a song that might put me to sleep. Found one of Celine Dion's songs, but it was too depressing. Found Devenire, a classical music by Ludovico Einaudi, very soothing playing of the piano and violin and...

3:00pm it work. I slept for almost four hours. I couldn't believe I won four rounds. Sleep must be feeling bad right now. Even though I lost this battle, I am sure sleep knows I have found a technique different from drugs or needles, nature. I am sure the war is mine to lose.

WHAT DO YOU THINK. i don't if this is better than my other essay on silence. your Opinion is extremely valuable

Undergraduate / 'I did this and my property' - WHY UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO? [8]

HONEST AND BRUTAL CRITIQUE NEEDED.

"I did this" Is a characteristic I have. These words are not intended to sound proud, but are a source of motivation for me. I have always tried not to be the best I can but better than the best around me. This might sound cliche, but I ask myself what the purpose of ranking or prize if not to know who has worked the hardest. My interest in economic is a very unusually one because I love do something that has not been done. The field of economics, today, is full of theories that can be right for few decades and wrong the next, not because the theory is wrong, but because the environment has change; with the continuous change in environment, there is abundant opportunity for me develop my ideas and be among the groups that I classify has the "I did this" . University of Chicago is full of unique individuals , but similar to me because we all share the same the " I did this"characteristic. My past experience has not been much help, from a high school in northern part of Nigeria that limits expression, to one that, all together, prevents all forms of diversity. This experience has shaped my idea of what my dream school should be like, a school where different cultures and ideas are not only embraced but can also shape me by expressing the cultural values of an African. A school where an idea would pierce the heart of everyone in class, due to its small size, rather than fade in the crowd of students; I believe University of Chicago is that kind of school.

My motivations to have a degree in economics were two things.First is my lack of understanding of the causes of economic events happening in the world for example: why having one five-hundred thousand note of Zimbabwean dollar can not feed a man for a day .Second is from my father, who always said that getting A in class does not mean it hasn't been done before, but am just among millions of students that have gotten an A . I want achieve something that hasn't been done, that makes me standout and I believe University of Chicago is the place where I my curiosity and love for challenge is matched with great resources and, most importantly, someone to challenge me. A place where I finally can have a chance to pose questions like why an increase in a country's GDP does not translate to economic development for all economic classes or how the improvement in education and economic policy can curb the threat of terrorism around the world. These questions can't be answered without having a state of the art research facility, which University of Chicago provides for students thanks in part to the work of Milton Friedman, who epitomize what it means to challenge existing theories. Milton Friedman did this, but I can do better given the right environment, University of Chicago. In a few years in University of Chicago, I would have achieved something that has been done, rather than just pass through. I would finally be among those that can say "I did this" and passing this challenge to the next students.