Undergraduate / I am planning to study development sociology and try also to do apply economics and management [3]

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences:

How have your interests and related experiences influenced your selection of major?

Any comments are welcome and about grammar, I know I have mistakes and I will try to correct them..if there is any big mistake please

I always have been a sportsman. Throughout high school I participated in different sports; in outdoor track running 100 meter which it only depended on what I did, and soccer which I played as forward but it depended on all the team to win. Outside of school I played golf, which really is what I always like. Playing golf has led me travel to different countries in America, in which I have not only played golf but tried to look at the different societies and there issues, economically, financial, environmentally, technological, etc. Within these countries I have visited Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Canada, Venezuela, United States and Mexico. And in every country playing golf is the same but they differ in both the meaning and function each society gives to the sport and how it is involved in the lives of people and the societies they form.

Since golf started in Scotland, it was only a men's sport; women were not allowed to play. That was in the 12th century, and until 1560s women did not play. Since then, societies have develop their treatment to women, but even today there are places which women cannot enter because of customs.

Going to these different countries have led me see how the meaning of golf is different. In USA and Canada, playing golf as amateurs is really easy and not much expensive as in Latin-American countries. Golf in the North America countries is just like playing any other sport, although, there are places in which they still have stratification and not everyone can play. These clubs are the one that were founded long time ago and continue with many of the Scottish traditions which I like, because it gives us an idea of how things work long time ago: it is history. But without these exceptions, golfing in Canada and USA is quite easy while golfing in Latin-American countries is really a privilege. I have had the opportunity to play golf and to experiences different meanings of golf. In a country club where a tournament was held, it was definitely a gorgeous club. Only the best personalities and known people were able to have a membership of this club. It was a prestige to be part of this club. In another country, professional players were persons that did not finished high school because their family was not able to pay for it, so they just practice and know they play for money. And in other countries, guys of a privilege family that were able to play golf are not going to school because they want to be professional players and it is not only one guy, there are lots of them with the same way of thinking.

Going to Cornell, and studying development sociology and/or economics is going to help me understand the issues that people of different societies have so that golfing has a different meaning. I would like to go by the development sociology, in which I could provide help and research for groups of people who want to challenge the inequalities golf may have (gender, class, resources, and race) to practice this wonderful sport. Also to see in what way golf and other sports contributes to social changes, and encourage to have more courses for people who would like to play for fun instead of getting involved with the elite players.