Undergraduate / My father bought me a telescope - signficant experience ;Common App essay [3]

**Im using the first common app prompt "Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you." and I could use some feedback. I'm a little worried that it sounds trite and some critique is appreciated. If anyone reading this would also be kind enough to tell me about any grammer mistakes they catch while reading it that would also be lovely.

I remember when I was a little kid how clear the stars used to be. My father bought me a telescope and I still remember how incredible that experience was. I remember first using it and learning that some of the dots of light in the night sky, the ones that mesmerize me, were planets! Imagine that! They all had different colors and sizes, I could barely see one with tiny rings and apparently, some had their own moons too! It is one of the greatest feelings I may ever know.

Ever since I first looked through that telescope I've been plagued with an unquenchable curiosity. Discovery, and the pursuit of knowledge, is a humbling experience. All of a sudden my world, that once seemed so vast, was a humble and insignificant place compared to the cosmos. Biology made humans a little less special, but much more fascinating. Instantly my world became infinitely larger, there was so much more to do, to see, to learn. That telescope began my life long love of science.

Curiosity is one of my defining traits. If it weren't for my father's gift I don't know who I would be today. Who knows where I would be now, or what I would be doing at this moment. One thing I know for certain, I wouldn't be wrecking myself over an essay for someone who I will never meet. I'm wrecking myself because this essay is meant to impress, or enlighten someone about me, but what I'm writing about is so impossible to articulate.

It's something that's difficult to explain, this feeling that telescope inspired in me. It is simply so innate, such a basic facet of myself that it's impossible for me to understand. There's this massive world we all live in, and we only have so little time to cherish it. With so little time how could I not want to see as much as possible? Learn everything I can understand. Teach others as long as I can speak. Hopefully I can contribute something meaningful before my hour is up.

I don't know if it is inspiration, or motivation, but it's what keeps me going. The knowledge that this world I live in is massive. The truth that the world always has something to learn, and that feeling discovery will always be out there waiting to be found. That was my father's real gift.

Undergraduate / USC Engineering suppliment essay. degrees Benefit to society, and am I a nerd? [3]

***The University of Southern California supplement's engineering school essay asks two questions, "How do you plan to use your engineering degree to benefit society", and "Some people categorize engineers as geeks or nerds. Are you a geek, nerd, or neither? Why?" here are my responses, if anyone is willing to read it for grammer and give general feedback it would be appreciated.

1) How do you plan to use your engineering degree to benefit society?
It's difficult to say how my engineering degree will benefit society. Each specific field of engineering has their own gift to the world. Some engineers improve agriculture, staving off starvation, other engineering reinvents medicine, prolonging human life. As noble as these endeavors are they are not where my passions lie. I want to study aerospace engineering. I want to build rockets, and spacecraft. It's difficult to say how these endeavors will benefit my species. Wernher von Braun built the first rocket capable of reaching the edge of space, the V2, but this rocket was not the dream of Konstantin and Goddard. The v2 was a weapon of indiscriminant violence, built by Braun for the Nazis, each piece of each rocket stained by the hatred of its makers, and by the pain of those forced to construct them. These are the horrific origins of modern rockets. After World War Two the dream of space exploration, the dreams of Konstantin and Goddard, was reborn. Through the hands of thousands of visionary scientists and engineers the descendents of the first rockets are now scattered throughout the solar system. These machines, once made for the destruction of life, now search the cosmos for signs of new life on other far off worlds. I am inspired by the heavens, motivated to seek modes and methods of traveling to other worlds and other stars, I am moved by a romantic zeal for exploration, to see worlds unknown. However, my dream, the dreams of Konstantin, Goddard, and countless others, have the most practical and logical motivation in the end. The development of rockets, and space faring vehicles, ensures the longevity of the human species. As the human race spreads throughout the solar system, and eventually the stars, the species becomes insolated from catastrophe. I choose to study aerospace engineering for my own appetite for exploration, but my minor triumphs will contribute to a long-term dream of human longevity.

2) Some people categorize engineers as geeks or nerds. Are you a geek, nerd, or neither? Why?
It's certainly possible that I am a geek, or a nerd. Of course whether or not I am a nerd, or a geek, depends on how they are defined. If someone loves engineering and science are they a nerd? Is being a nerd all about being passionate about ones work, and being dedicated to ones field? If being a freak or a geek is about no more than that then I imagine I am a geek, actually I imagine most people would aspire to be a nerd. Perhaps that's not what a nerd or geek is. If someone defines a nerd or a geek as someone who is socially inept, unfashionable, and painfully studious then I would probably avoid the title. If that were how it defined I probably wouldn't be thrilled to be called that. In the end maybe I am a nerd, or a geek, or some other nonsense word, but in the end it doesn't matter. All of those things are just empty labels and I don't care how I'm defined, as long as I'm doing what I love nothing really matters to me.

Essays / Humans are both blessed and cursed ; Philosophical english essay [2]

Humans are both blessed and cursed by a conscience and self-aware mind. This adaptation has allowed the species to conquer its planet, and dominate all other life on it. With its resulting intellect this creature develops systems with which it builds great empires, and accomplishes impossible tasks. The blessing of a complex mind: however, is a double-edged sword. The conscience mind is eager to acknowledge monotony, and be tortured by the tedium of the day-to-day trappings demanded by a mortal life. Any conscience being who acknowledges an indifferent universe must seek purpose within it.

Without purpose the human mind will find itself preoccupied by a constant ennui brought on by constant tedium. Purpose is a motivator and a distraction. Purpose allows a constant mind to shed its torturous preoccupation with tedium, and evade insanity for whatever time it remains to exist. For the sake of argument ones purpose can be classified as one of the following: inherent, found, and created. An inherent purpose is one bestowed onto an individual by a higher power, or a purpose that exists as an attribute of that individual's existence. Such a purpose is impossible in an indifferent universe. Found purpose is a purpose an individual finds for himself within the natural world. Created purpose, a specific facet of found purpose, is purpose created by and created expressly for that individual. Purposes such as these are sought because they help define an individual and provide a basic course of action, thusly saving the individual from monotony without purpose.

John Gardner's' dragon from his novel Grendel, explains why purpose must be found or created. The dragon explains that "Things come and go," (Gardner 70) "In a billion billion years everything will have come and gone several times, in various forms"(Gardner 70), The dragon is establishing the scale of time in the universe; on such a large scale the actions of any being have little importance. He explains that in the long-term perspective the choices of an individual do not matter, and because of this any purpose is just as valid as any other. Hoard gold, kill men, feed the poor, be nice to the stupid, any purpose makes just as much sense as any other according to his logic. It does not matter, as long as you pick one. The dragon goes on to explain how everything within the universe arises as a result of a virtuous circle, "complexity beyond complexity, accident on accident" (Gardner 71). This establishes that everything is the result of natural processes, time, and chance; therefore nothing has any inherent meaning. Meaning is an abstract concept, existing independently from the natural world, and therefore can only be assigned by an intelligent mind. If the dragon's model of the universe is true there is no intelligence with the authority to assign value and purpose. In such a universe no inherent purpose exists, there is no power to assign value or purpose, therefore any purpose must be found or created within the natural world.

One must also pursue purpose in this world because of an innate desire to do so. Beowulf encapsulates the innate desire that motivates a mortal being for the search of purpose. To understand Beowulf's motivations; however, the groundwork of his society must be understood. The beginning of Beowulf's society is one that begins and ends with man. His world is based on a pre-Christian culture, there is no god dealing out worth and purpose, in the end a man is not judged by god, but by his fellow man. A man's value in his world is based solely on his actions, and a man's actions are guided by his purpose. This means that any purpose for someone in such a society must be found or created within this world because without such a purpose a man has no measure of worth. Beowulf has a created purpose. His purpose is to earn the reputation of a hero, and more importantly the legacy such a reputation entails. Legacy is his true goal, as a conscious being Beowulf is aware of his mortality, and if he is temporary what is his true worth? A temporary creature such as him, with such little impact on the universe must not be worth much. But a hero's legacy is not so temporary, he seeks his heroic legacy because a sense of purpose gives a mortal man value. This drive to pursue value could be ascribed to anyone; purpose will give rise to the pursuit of value, and all seek value. Grendel found value as the brute existence that drives mankind, Unferth found value in heroics, and Deloris found it in lasagna.

Unferth shows that just how vital purpose is to a man, and that destroying a man's purpose can destroy the man as well. In the beginning of Grendel Unfurth is the model hero. When Grendel deliberately attacks the mead hall for the first time Unferth tries to make soaring speeches and slay the monster Grendel. Before he can even begin attacking the monster; however, Grendel manages to turn Unferth's entire display into a complete mockery of him and his ideals of heroism. Unferth, unraveled by Grendel's actions during the first attack, confronts him in his cave about his remarks on heroism. This is where Unferth's true beliefs are revealed, he beings with the songs and poems about his defeat of Grendel, but he quickly delves deeper into the real reason he has become a hero. Unferth explains that heroism gives him something to aspire to, and "makes the whole struggle of humanity worthwhile" (Gardner 89). Here it is revealed just how similar Unferth and Grendel truly are, they both recognize the inherent lack of meaning in the universe, but where Grendel chose to refuse to find or impose any meaning onto the world, and falls into wanton destruction, Unferth found a created purpose in his ideals of heroism. Unferth comes to Grendel as a true hero, Grendel acknowledges his heroism by saying "he was a new kind of Scylding"(86 Gardner). But Grendel denies Unferth a hero's death, and carries Unferth back to the mead hall. This completely destroys Unferth's heroic ideals, and soon Unferth crumbles as well. At every raid from that point on Unferth throws himself at Grendle, sometimes in disguise even, in hopes of martyrdom. Unferth grows old and bitter, quickly coming to tears over the taunts from other warriors. Unferth was once a great hero, but when Grendel ruined Unferth's Ideals he destroyed his purpose and Unferth became a weak coward.

Any conscious being, which recognizes an indifferent universe, must create or find purpose within their natural world. The character Beowulf reveals just how humans strive to find purpose and value for their lives. Unferth characterizes how a man without purpose is nothing, and how a man who looses his purpose can be destroyed. The dragon from Grendel explains how in an indifferent universe there is no inherent purpose, so purpose must be found and created within the natural world of those in search of it. A man is defined by his purpose. A purpose drives a man to action. Action can earn a man merit. Although in an indifferent universe purpose may be contrived it is all that drives humans, and gives all things their value.