Undergraduate /
Going away to school frightens me; Harvey Mudd Essay / One thing [6]
Due tomorrow so any help is appreciated. Wondering if this essay is too risky or skirts the question.
Prompt is what is one thing harvey mudd college won't know about me from my application.
Here it is:
Paper is a notoriously fickle medium of communication. Jules Verne could tell a tale of going into untold depths of the sea, and Ernest Hemingway could vividly elucidate on the Spanish countryside, yet I suppose you could never guess that they both had two spoonfuls of sugar in their morning cup of coffee. While a wonderful story can be told, quirks and nuances about the author are lost in translation; the author's voice can only express his personality as well as his writing is. So to further introduce myself, I am compelled to share a few qualities about me that may not be quite apparent on paper.
Going away to school frightens me. Moving nearly 139 miles away from home to attend college is not something you take lightly. It is a decision you make after hours of crying, yelling, and arguing - and then your parents finally decide to let you have a turn talking. But I suppose this is the essence of college: being thrust into the unknown - moving far, far away to return with stories of prosperity and success. Am I afraid? Perhaps so, but hesitant? Never. I face adversity head on with a certain doggedness that refuses to quit. If it takes leaving behind what I have known living in my small town for the past eighteen years to attend the school of my dreams, then I am ready to push forward into the unknown. As long as I have my family and friends behind me, coupled with my dreams within grasp, I would gladly let my parents drop me off in Claremont, California for a breathtaking and invaluable four years.
While unknown to many people, I am also in a deeply committed relationship with my world map. Resting upon the wall behind my computer it sits - watching the hours go by listening to the constant "clack" of the keyboard. I would say it knows me better than I do - the sheen fading to yellow across the whole map, the wearing and stains across all of Europe unabashedly showing just where my favorite places in the world are. I find comfort in the fact that the whole world can be compressed into five by seven foot map at the tips of my fingers. Its size is what I most enjoy about my map; it makes it seem like the world around me is manageable. A world like this is what I hold most dear in my heart. Nothing feels more like home to me than a small and intimate community where I could hope to know everyone's name.
And finally, my best friend in the whole world is single-variable calculus. It has been a summer since we last saw each other, but I can remember every moment in vivid detail. Fresh in my mind is the day when graphs could finally be drawn with the help of derivatives, or when area became a sum of infinitely thin rectangles. Never before had a set of concepts made so much sense, I could do nothing less than welcome this new chapter of mathematics into my life with open arms. Each day learning more about each other was an adventure, promising new chapters every week. And one does not simply forget a month's work on an integral project made of Rice Krispie treats. If spending 50 dollars on marshmallow, butter, and cereal to make a 3D parabolic shape is not an example of true friendship, then I cannot begin to imagine what is. And if we could become such quick friends, I can look forward in hope and excitement at the vast world of mathematics and science waiting to be met.
And to think, these are only small pieces that collectively make up the puzzle that represents me. These attributes may seem to be very disconnected, but truthfully they represent the eclectic nature of my personality. I really do feel excited to explore outside my own backyard, to test my limits, to achieve my dreams, and to grow in my love the sciences. I suppose that the one thing you will not know about me by my application is everything. I am not defined by numbers, grades, or words typed upon paper. I am a devoted, diverse, and intriguing individual that can really only be understood in person. You can read these words time and time again, but there are not enough words in this world that can accurately depict my love for knowledge, my quirks, my personality - truly, me. Thus, I suppose I will simply have to attend Harvey Mudd College. There is really no other way to know who I am than to spend four wonderful years getting to know each other.