Undergraduate / Wisc Prompts - #1 Personal Experience, #2 Why Economics? [3]

This is what I've written so far. I have the feeling that my responses are not strong enough. They might not even answer the question.

I appreciate any opinions. Thank you.

The University values an educational environment that provides all members of the campus community with opportunities to grow and develop intellectually, personally, culturally and socially. In order to give us a more complete picture of you as an individual, please tell us about the particular life experiences, perspectives, talents, commitments and/or interests you will bring to our campus. In other words, how will your presence enrich our community?

"I live on a tree house that is so tall that walking up takes too much energy. Therefore, we have elevators to send us up. If I want to go over to my neighbor's place, I simply swing from one tree house to another like Tarzan. When I turned 16, my dad got me an orang utan as pet and I named it Headhunter," I replied fluently to a friend from Kuala Lumpur.

It is funny how people from a country as small as Malaysia cannot even fully understand our own culture. I bet every one of us from Borneo is prepared to answer the ultimate "Do you live on trees?" question, prompted by our dear friends across the sea- Peninsular Malaysia. I blame the commercials that only show longhouses and deep forests when promoting our states for causing such superficiality. But the truth is that, we never care to learn about others' culture.

Diversity gives us the opportunity to see beyond our own culture. I do not resent answering that question every time a friend asks me. In fact, I'll give them a stereotype answer, which I have practiced numerous times in my mind. This however, will always be followed up with an explanation on the truth beneath all the fallacy about Borneo. They would laugh without fail because they finally learnt the truth.

Telling the truth with a twist of humor makes a big difference, I suppose. If I were to give the stereotype answer only, my friend would find me sarcastic; if I were to explain to him seriously, he might find it way too bland that the minute I finished, he only felt utterly relieved, without understanding what I just explained.

Albert Camus said, "Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future." When my Sociology lecturer first quoted this, I nodded in approval. I love to explore into different cultures and to experience them, for I'm not born in those settings and I tell these stories with humor so that it is easily digestible to those that do not appreciate.

A melting pot itself, University of Wisconsin allows me to have a first-hand experience to the different cultures. A proud Sarawakian, I too, can add to the diversity of the university. I will be delighted to share the anecdotes of living in Borneo and the true legends of the Head Hunters. Most importantly, my positive attitudes and weird sense of humor might be able to spice up the college years of my prospective course mates.

Tell us about your academic goals, circumstances that may have had an impact on your academic performance, and, in general, anything else you would like us to know in making an admission decision.

"Why would you choose something as easy as Economics?" a question that I was prompted by a friend, who is a first year medical student, last Chinese New Year. It gave me a big blow. Furious was not strong enough to reflect my emotions that morning, but I laughed my way through because I didn't want to start a fight with him. It is a typical Malaysian mindset to think that choosing a pathway other than sciences is not wise and that you will ultimately end up unemployed.

"I believe that you're not in the position to say that Economics is easy. Have you read any of Keynes, Smith or Veblen's book? Do you know which schools of thoughts they belong to? Do you know what Paul Volcker did to curb the stagflation in the 1970s? Do you even know what stagflation is? If you don't know all of this, why would you say that Economics is an easy major? It's a shame that you might never know what the real value of the ringgit in your pocket is." I constantly repeat this speech in my mind whenever I thought of that morning, as if I'm preparing to have the fight that I should have long before this.

When I chose to major in Economics, I told myself that I want to involve in researches of the economy and I want to share what I learn in university with other people so that they can actually understand what the business section of the newspaper is reporting. But what kept me going forward is that I want to prove that the Malaysian mentality is an erroneous belief so outdated that sometimes I can't help but to feel sad for those who do not give a thought before choosing their career pathways. Sometimes, these are what others expect of us, but not what we expect of ourselves. I'm well aware that this is not going to be easy and I might end up as an unemployed, who doesn't contribute to the economy, but I'm clear that this is what I want and I'm prepared to take the challenge.

I always believe that nothing is truly difficult or unfeasible if we have the urge to learn. I too, was once bounded by negative voice. Conflicting thoughts kept pushing me to edge to the cliff. However, upon studying the Principles of Microeconomics and the Principles of Macroeconomics, my skepticism vanished. Economics theories are so different compared to scientific theories. Everything is around me all these time, yet I have very limited knowledge about it. I know that these are just 2 introductory courses to Economics. There are more in depth courses that await me in the next few years, but I anticipate that time to come.

I don't know where will future lead me, but at this point of my life, I want to learn the different branches of Economics, to know how it affects our lives unnoticed and to achieve the goals I set for myself. University of Wisconsin- Madison that offers one of the best undergraduate programs in Economics is my first choice to widen my perspectives and knowledge in Economics. It is where I wish to attend next fall.