Undergraduate / HERO inside everyone just waiting to change the wrold; CLI (Northwestern ) [3]

CLI is a service-learning program focused on social issues, leadership and civic engagement. What do you hope to gain from your participation in CLI?

Hero inside us waiting to change the world; CLI (Northwestern) application

CLI is a service-learning program focused on social issues, leadership and civic engagement. What do you hope to gain from your participation in CLI?
I believe that everyone has a hero inside them just waiting to change the world...

I was happy, but something was missing. I wasn't really sure what it was or even what I wanted it to be. So, I went looking. One summer, when my family and I went to India, I had the most incredible adventure I had ever experienced. I met beautiful, smiling children running all over the place and truly enjoying themselves. However, I also met children who would never learn how to read or get a chance at a basic education, and because of that, would have zero opportunity for the rest of their lives/their whole entire lives. I also saw kids who had to walk for hours and hours each way, every day to fetch water that was so dirty and could probably kill them, and often did.

When I got back to North America, I was shattered. Just walking into a grocery store I noticed the shelves of food and the abundance that we have, and worst of all, the massive displays of clean drinking water that I knew those kids could never even imagine existing. I was paralyzed. I wanted to do something but I had no idea what... All I knew was that it was time, time to bring a movement of change. Everyone has a hero inside of them; but sometimes, they just don't know what to do.

Through this internship I hope to have the opportunity to use my knowledge in a socially constructive way. My hopes are that I can have the opportunity to explore the social issues that obstruct the development of our communities and societies today. In addition, I hope to learn effective tools and strategies for community development and positive social change. Of course, this will begin by breaking apart such issues. Understanding and examining the root causes, adverse effects, and practical solutions to specific social problems will allow me to tackle these issues head on. It is in my hopes that CLI will provide me with real-world encounters of community issues, an academic foundation of methods to achieve social change, and the experience to take on civic responsibility.

To be able to lead in social reform and development, I hope to gain and develop strong leadership skills that will make me more equipped to be a better informed and more engaged citizen in communities by me and around the world. I also hope to discover different ways to become more active in communities. Hopefully, this internship will allow me to gain exposure to theories of leadership that I can use to identify resources, develop projects, and network with others in my community in order to facilitate community development.

So, it's time to begin that movement of change. Though I don't currently have one big plan to save the world, newfound leadership skills and experience with social issues may be all it takes for that hero, and countless others, to know what to do.

How is this? Grammatical errors, spelling errors, structural errors? Anything else? Thanks!

Undergraduate / COMBINATION OF FIELDS; Fermilab Internship- Interests, motivation/ Goals & plans [2]

Note: I need this essay to hit 500 words, I was wondering how I could shorten it. I was tentatively thinking about cutting out the second paragraph (The little white ping pong ball...good at it) This would bring us to 557 words. without cutting this out, the essay is at 627 words (YIKES!) Thanks!

Prompt:
Please describe your interests and motivation in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. What do you expect a summer internship at Fermilab to offer you? What kinds of work assignments would you consider beneficial to supporting your interests and skills? What are your goals and plans after you graduate from high school?

Essay:
Where does my love for science stem from? Practicality. I love that the combination of various fields of science can yield explanations of realities. It helps explain why a lacrosse ball stays in a stick when it's cradled or why a roller coaster car doesn't bounce off the tracks.

The little white ping pong ball gained speed as it raced down the ruler smashing into the clear plastic cup at the bottom, displacing it a couple of inches. I then reached for the plastic yellow ruler to measure the distance the collision had caused the cup to move. I vividly remember performing fourth grade science experiments; even then I knew that I liked science and was good at it.

In middle school, Mrs. Phelps made mathematics interesting by making it more hands on. We got to apply the concepts we learned in various projects like creating a board game and designing a 3D roller coaster with loops and steep inclines.

In eighth grade physics class, we used the conservation of energy principles to calculate a sphere's horizontal velocity and, ultimately, its range. I recall setting down the meter stick, meticulously checking to make sure that I had measured correctly. I set the target down at the point where I had calculated the marble would land. The marble careened down the slope soaring as it hit the end of the jump. For a moment it stopped, suspended in mid-air, and then continued on its journey straight into the bull's-eye.

Science Olympiad has fueled my interests to another level. I got to explore building towers, bridges, catapult. These projects were an emulsion of physics, math, engineering and technology.

As a kid, I loved logic problems and the challenge of taking all the little disjointed pieces and fashioning them into a single harmonious picture. Physics offers me a way to connect all of the seemingly disjointed pieces. It is physics that forms the foundation for biology, chemistry, geology, and many other fields.

Through this opportunity I hope to gain hands on work experience and apply my classroom knowledge to real situations and seek reinforcement of concepts taught in classes. Simply, I truly hope to learn more about fields of science from a real-world perspective. While classroom knowledge can lay a good foundation, the ability to implement those teachings into real situations is unlike anything else. Confirmation of my interests in the field of science, specifically referring to physics and engineering, would be quite rewarding. I am also looking forward to having an intellectual camaraderie with my peers. Above all, an internship can be the pinnacle of my education as it will provide the opportunity to sharpen my problem solving skills.

While at Fermilab, I hope to have the exposure to current advancements in research. I hope to study problems facing us today and to come up with possible solutions. The opportunity to work on assignments connecting different fields of science (physics to engineering, physics to chemistry/biology) would be a valuable experience. I look forward to having discussions with my peers and mentors in order to experience an intellectual exchange of knowledge.

I am curious by nature and I also love abstract thinking and learning to view ideas from an inventive and unconventional perspective. Though I have always loved math and science, their applications are of much greater interest to me. I plan to pursue my undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering. I hope that this experience will provide me with skills and knowledge to make meaningful contributions by bringing my fresh take and inquisitive nature into this field. I love engineering because it helps me acquire strong problem-solving abilities which allow me to practice analyzing complicated problems and, most importantly, challenge me to produce logical solutions to solve real world problems.