Scholarship / Internship Application Essay for Smithsonian Museum [2]

Prompt:
Why are you interested in science and what does it mean to you? List two qualities or character traits an intern (or scientist) should have and describe how you pocess those qualities.

I was born with an aptitude for science and mathematics, something that a few classmates of mine would kill for. But I sense that that is not the person you are seeking, because science does not require you to be smart, but instead requires a person to have curiosity and critical thinking, the light and the lighthouse, respectively. Because in order to be an effective scientist, one must apply the countless of hours of gathering evidence and tedious experimentation and actually molding that into a valid conclusion. Yet it is not all about the conclusion, rather the errors that have led you to believe, to know that your efforts have bore fruit. Science has a certain intrigue, a lure, that always reels you in, even without you acknowledging it. But to me, science is not merely a fascination, but a dedication. My role-models are not Usher, or Lady Gaga, but great philosophers and scientists, Locke, Newton, Kepler, Rousseau, and others. I wish to be known for an achievement that is for the betterment for mankind, whether it be an invention, or a paper regarding a new theory. And it is on this dream that I lay the foundations of my dedication to science and the greater good.

"Information is not knowledge", a famous quote by Einstein, and one that perfectly illustrates the advantage of critical thinking. But for a scientist it is not merely an advantage to have critical thinking, but a requirement. Critical thinking, in my words, is the ability to question and discern whether a claim is true through a reasoned process.When a scientist undergoes the process of validating a theory or hypothesis, they use the scientific method, which is really a systematic method of critical thinking, because a hypothesis that is not reinforced by this system of trial and error, is not a valid and true hypothesis. Ergo, a scientist that lacks this valuable trait is not truly advancing science. Without questioning or validating an existing fact, we will never progress, because, as stated above, the scientific is the only true method of validating a hypothesis, and the first step of this process is questioning.

A good example is the dominant philosophy during the Middle Ages, scholasticism. The main idea was to preserve and learn existing knowledge. This promoted literacy and knowledge around churches in Europe, yet the flaw lies in its strength. While preserving is valuable, it provides no real advantage if nothing is built upon it.

I have acquired this attribute not naturally, but by repeated exposure of my mind to such problems. I have a great deal of experience in labs, both unguided and guided. When I was attending the International School of Kabul in Afghanistan, my teachers often gave us an assignment, for example, determine if a substance has an ionic or covalent bond, and we had to choose a procedure. After researching into the matter, we concluded that ionic bonds are generally conductive, and covalent bonds aren't. We further deduced that electricity is currents passing back and forth, and that if the medium is severed, there is no electricity. Therefore, we connected a positive and negative wire to a lightbulb, but did not connect them with each other. We placed both wires in the substance, and if the lightbulb lighted, then the substance was ionic. For example, plain water lighted up the bulb very dimly, but that was because of the chlorine and other substances in the water. When table salt was added, the lightbulb shone very brightly. Thus from this evidence, we conjectured that salt water has an ionic bond, and pure water has a covalent bond. This type of experimentation and reasoning is, in my opinion, ideal for scientific inquiry.

I define science as progression. Scientist are able to define nature in a universal language that all man can understand, mathematics. But unlike math, science is inherent to the universe, not just man's mind. In math, all theorems and postulates are artificial, just a product of man's innovation similar to a language. Science, on the other hand, is constant whether or not man has discovered it. Gravity, inertia, viscosity, and other laws and theories will always be true no matter how it is interpreted.

The single only characteristic that differentiates civilized man from savagery is the use of technology, through which is contrived from science. Without technology we would not have the power to count votes or communicate ideas and philosophies. Humans are living as long as ever with the ever-changing innovations in pharmaceuticals, vaccinations, and anti-bacterial products.

So science does not only represent progression, but also represents civilization.

While questions fuel our thinking, we must have a source in which we derive these educated questions from. The ultimate answer is curiosity, because while other factors play into making observations and questions, a person must have a general sense of curiosity to start the questioning process.

Curiosity can also be defined as eagerness to work and experiment. Eager and curious minds inevitably work harder and faster to satisfy their thirst for knowledge. I for one work twice as hard in a subject if it is interesting, whether it be science or history because at the end I know I will receive the satisfaction of knowledge.

But the big question remains, what generates curiosity? Knowledge fosters curiosity, and curiosity in turn foster knowledge. Curiosity often provides experience to learn from, thus building mental capacity. This new fostered mental strength provides the means to open our brain to new areas.

While curiosity is an innate trait amongst humans, my sense of curiosity has been amplified by my exposure to labs. When I first started doing labs, I dreaded the write-ups that followed the drudging lab itself. When I started to look at the labs critically, and interpret the results and procedures differently, I started to question the results and why certain things happened. It soon became a regular thing to ask my teacher or mentor, and when that wasn't possible I vied to finish the lab as soon as possible to find the results and form my own conclusions and theories.

As previously mentioned, the scientific method is widely believed as the most accurate way in proving a hypothesis, or any conjecture, and the first step is generally to observe and ask a question. The ability to observe lies in your curiosity, and the ability to ask a question lies in critical thinking skills.

Scholarship / Internship Short Answer (less than 150 words) [2]

Leadership and responsibility are key qualities we look for in candidates; can you tell us of an experience(s) that demonstrated these qualities?

When I was attending the International School of Kabul I was the representative of my grade for STUCO, or Student Council. My position was important as I was the medium between the students in my grade and the school administration. Our school was small, with only 350 students total from K-12 and about 15 in my grade. But my responsibility was great nonetheless as a leader. We often held fundraiser or social events at the school in which I was mainly in charge of the logistics. For example tables, chairs, balloons, cakes, and other objects that were needed during the event. This type of responsibility required great organization and time management.

The answer is about 111 words.

Undergraduate / UC Prompt 2 - Moving from Afghanistan to the States, dealing with poverty, culture differences, more [3]

The prompt is:

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

Moving back to the States from Afghanistan was a jarring transition, to say the least. Back in Afghanistan, my father was a high-ranking government official. We never had any financial problems, we were surrounded by a loving family, I had many friends, and life was carefree.

In the United States, my father was unemployed for 18 months. We hit official poverty lines, moved to a tiny apartment, ate the absolute worst meals "cooked" (more like boiling everything) by my father, and always had a tight budget. It's true that I lost everything, my crazy friends, my happy cousins, playing soccer on dirt streets every night, and just losing my Afghanistan. I didn't even end up in a glamorous city in the US, just Virginia. I couldn't connect well with the students in the US because of cultural differences. I had friends, not as many as I'd hope to. The feeling of loss and disillusionment was beginning to take its toll on my personality. I wasn't sad or depressed. I was just a little angry. The 100 degree weather in July wasn't helping either.

Through all of that, I began to grow an affinity for money. I thought that money was the root of all my problems (which was at the time). One day I Googled "how to make money online" and the results had me instantly hooked. After sifting through all the get-rich quick schemes, I was starting to find quality, viable business models that a person with grit and hard-determination could pull off. So I researched, and researched, and researched. I slowly started implementing one of the business models, the classic website.

I won't bore you with the details, but it was a grueling, long, grind. For seven months I toiled behind the glow of my computer screen every day after-school, for hours at a time. For seven months, I didn't see a single penny.

And the money came. I reinvested a quarter, gave a quarter to my father, saved a quarter of the money, and splurged with the last quarter. I bought phones, clothes, shoes, everything a materialistic teenager would buy.

I'd like to say I had a sudden revelation one night, but it was more like a long, painful realization that money wasn't the Holy Grail I had hoped it would be. All the new clothes didn't help the bullying in 7th period or solve the lonely Saturday nights.

Moving to California was the best thing that happened to me. It was a fresh start, something I could work with. I joined clubs at my school, found a group of people to play soccer with (something I dearly missed), volunteered at my local mosque every Thursday, and started going to the gym later on.

I found friends, real friends. Ones that didn't hang around just because I had a little pocket change. I connected with other Afghans in the area, which everyone though were my cousins. For the first time after a long time, going to school was enjoyable. My hilarious English teacher always brightened my day.

True, I don't have as much time these days for my business and my income is dropping, but I have something better. I have my crazy friends, my happy cousins, I have my Friday nights playing soccer, and I have my family. And that's something money can't buy.