Undergraduate / 'Think, understand, integrate, and prove' - University: Why Chicago [5]

Here is the prompt and essay I have written. Please provide and feedback you have! The due date is March 1st so sorry about the constricting period..

Question 1. How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to Chicago

"The only purpose of education is to teach a student how to live his life-by developing his mind and equipping him to deal with reality. The training he needs is theoretical, i.e., conceptual. He has to be taught to think, to understand, to integrate, to prove. He has to be taught the essentials of the knowledge discovered in the past-and he has to be equipped to acquire further knowledge by his own effort." ~Ayn Rand

I live my life logically and have in mind a specific type of learning, community, and future I want to experience. The above quote, said by philosopher and author Ayn Rand, thoroughly describes the purpose of education, as I see it. I need to develop my mind and general skills, while gaining an understanding of the whole world around me, then focus on a major area of study for my lifelong academic or career related endeavors. The best way to accomplish this is through a liberal education. The undergraduate experience at the University of Chicago will provide everything I want and need to seize my full potential.

The curriculum, people, and resources available make this place very special and appealing to me. Rigorous courses in broad subjects that are meticulously designed to teach the student important knowledge will truly encompass the true purpose of an education. Continued rigorous studies taught by highly acclaimed professors that are among the most critical in their fields will provide me with great knowledge. The students are serious about academics, intellectually free minded, supportive, and collaborative in and out of the class, which will make acquaintances for significant germination of knowledge. The beautiful campus: architecture and location, is a resource within itself offering inspiration and pride. In addition, greater resources like student clubs, (of which I hope to join the excellent debate team), CAP center, libraries and research, internships, and the city of Chicago's myriad of opportunities are phenomenal. Overall, the "study hard, learn hard" environment, culture, and pressure that lives at the University is exactly what I aspire to be in the middle of; Cooperation yet competition, living, learning, thinking, growing, are all a part of this University and I hope I can become a contributor. In the words of John Dewey, "Going to college is not the same as getting an education". However, going to The University of Chicago will allow me to attain the best education possible, as far as I know.