Undergraduate / Started reading quite early!/ Cornell App(Arts and Sciences) Evolution of Interests [2]

Iakov Efimenko
Prompt: Describe your intellectual interests, their evolution, and what makes them exciting to you. Tell us how you will utilize the academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences to further explore your interests, intended major, or field of study.

Courtesy of my grandmother, I started reading quiet early; by the age of five I had a plethora of astronomy books under my belt of knowledge. Planet Earth, the solar system, and the idea of the cosmos were so fascinating that it was the only thing I read and for my birthday, New Years, or any other occasion, such books was what I asked for.

My passion for astronomy, like a flask, shaped my liquid and premature identity. Through the understanding of cosmos I developed my own perspective on the world and the importance of life and the individual. Through it, I began to form an idea for the meaning of existence, and although my family are all Eastern Christian Orthodox, my ideas of origin were shaped otherwise. I continued drinking from the ever flowing river that the universe represents and for years I was inspired and awed by the unfathomable numbers and possibilities that exist in the system we call our universe.

I sworn to myself that I would become an astronomer, study the sky, observe the distant galaxies and distant planets never touched by other eyes. But I also always looked ahead, and as passionate as I was about the cosmos I realized that my thirst for cosmic knowledge could not fuel and sustain me for life; I matured. Intellectual interests more or less intertwine with careers, and a career path that would possibly lead me into a field that has recently lost majority of it's funding and therefore lost hope and promise for near future, is not something I intend to rush into fueled only on raging passions.

Nonetheless, I was lucky, not that I would be doomed as an astronomer, but thanks to my high school biology teacher I began to develop an interest for biology. In my perspective biology deals with a universe of it's own, a universe of processes and events that occur on a level closely observable and relatable to each of us in our everyday lives, and like that of the cosmos, the knowledge of the biological world is not set in stone; everyday new discoveries in the field permeate universities, hospitals, and labs. To me biology also contains a large humane component to it; whilst cosmology or astronomy may answer questions that may be relevant to us in a million to billion years, biology answers that which may save villages ravaged by malaria today orr a cancer patient that may not live to celebrate his birthday, The applications of biology are limitless, the funding is evermore increasing, and the opportunities are endless, and thus biology holds promise and hope now, that I once saw in astronomy.

As one of the top and most competitive establishment for pre-med I intend to devote myself to Cornell's rigorous and competitive courses. Furthermore I intend to utilize to my advantage the shadowing programs that Cornell offers that set you up with physicians and allow you to gain more experience in the field. Most importantly, you can study and absorb knowledge introduced by others, but to me the most important aspect of learning is discovering, and therefore I see research as one of my top priorities which as a top research institution, Cornell will help me succeed in.

Undergraduate / Comanches and other nomadic Indian tribes; UPENN Supp(Ben Franklin's Quote) [4]

Ben Franklin once said, 'All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.'

Which are you?

"Put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot...Be water, my friend." Without realizing it, I've lived through Bruce Lee's advice. Subconsciously I've been a morphing fluid all along,

Ever since I first learned about Comanches and other nomadic Indian tribes I've found them intriguing. A society built on a lack of permanent settlement, absent of the concept of "home" and only familiar with a house and a shelter; always on the move in search of stability and peace. In retrospect, I'm a nomad myself, although I'm not Comanche nor native American at all; I'm a modern day nomad. The same way I drew maps and trails of Apache settlements, I can trace my own journey; but I'm not looking for food nor am I hunting and gathering like nomadic natives did, I am in search of hope and opportunity, and in a constant chase of something better that lies just over the hedge. As I migrated I've always flowed with the environment, taken it's shape and attributes, adopting to different circumstances, as water does with its vessel; liquid and forever moving. Eight towns and cities, ten schools, thousands of passers-biers and I'm certain my journey is not over - always in motion and forever so. Along with physical movement, inevitably I have been shifting intellectually and characteristically; I've absorbed something from everywhere I've been, from the cities of Russia, to the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, and to the suburbs of Florida, I've taken in little by little in an attempt and hope of creating a solid structure that is me.

Despite this physical movement, my morals stood their ground, my ethics never budged, and my spirit remains impervious. My goal will never change; to make something of myself will remain my guiding principle. The moral compass which guides me on my decisions of what's right or wrong is that of concrete, and my determination remains unmoving because otherwise I would fail not only those around me but also myself in hope of being different from whom was once a part of my life