Letters / "Education is my way of escape" - admissions letter [4]

Dear Sir or Madam,
I would like to start off by saying that I am very humbled to even be considered for the application process.
My name is Yohana Tesfamariam, I was born and raised in Asmara- Eritrea where unity is the major tool to success. My country has been through a 30 years long armed struggle and received its independence in 1991. My parents were soldiers and they sacrificed their adolescence years to give e the ultimate gift, a country that I can call mine.

But as a third world country the only way to survive the struggle at home or in life was through education. Education is my way of escape because; I can do something with my life.

Growing up my mother used to work in a Hospital, as a result of spending a lot of time there I ended up making a promise that one day I would give back to my people by doing one thing, that was to introduce new medical technology to be introduced in order to improve the skills of the medical care. My country has lost any people already the least I could do is boost the medical technology in order to excel in the treatment of the citizens.

The main area that I would like to focus on in University is Biomedical Engineering. This field will allow me to fulfill my dreams of giving back to my people. Therefore as a head start of my carrier I have been in studying a Scottish school in Israel where, we learn by the British system. I have been in this school all my high school years and will be graduating in July 2011. Hence I have done my O levels and I a currently doing my A-levels.

The subjects that I take for my A-levels are: Math, Biology, Chemistry and Literature. I enjoy going to school and being able to absorb great knowledge because if I was in Eritrea I would be forced to follow the path that has been set for young girls which is, to get married at a young age and take care of the household. I refuse to live under the shadows of a man and by graduating and getting a degree from one of the top schools in the world, I will send the message that dreaming big and desiring education is not a waste of time.

Coming to Israel, I learned that there are many options in life and if you thrive for the best and never kneel down you can achieve the best. Because at the end of the day the only person that can get in my way is me.

Thank you very much for your time,
Yohana T.

Undergraduate / "Current-day medical practice" - Cornell Supplement [NEW]

Engineers turn ideas (technical, scientific, mathematical) into reality. Tell us about an engineering idea you have or your interest in engineering. Explain how Cornell Engineering can help you further explore this idea or interest.

Current-day medical practice relies increasingly on technology. How about the developing countries, where technology has not yet reached the pinnacle that the other countries have? Each year, many people are not given the proper diagnosis or are recommended to go to developed countries to get the proper medical care, not found in Africa. Most of the people that get the chance to travel abroad are wealthy and I think it is time that all the people get to have the proper medical technologies in their homeland. I want to start this ambition of mine from my country, Eritrea.

All my life I have been running around the halls of the famous hospital twenty minutes from my house. I spent most of my time there since that's where my mother used to work. Every day I used to see so many hopeless faces because, there were no procedures the doctors could perform due to lack of equipment and practice. I could relate with these families because, when my brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia, we could not do anything. This was my main motivation to pursue the field of engineering where one day, I will get my degree and enrich the technology of the Eritrean medical field.

Cornell offers an amazing biological engineering program that is adequate for me. The course requires scholars that have a strong aptitude for the sciences and mathematics and an interest in the complex social issues that surround technology. That is why I have chosen to quest after this major. For the years that I have been preparing for my O levels and A levels, I have come across a couple of social issues that I have later on debated in class. Most of the social issues that we debate on focus on social issues concerning the UK and other developed countries, and so far I have been able to help my fellow classmates and teachers see the bigger picture. Now, I want to be able to bring to the world's attention the third world countries' social issues of technology, so that we can also concentrate on worldwide issues. While doing so, this major will allow me to also pursue the subjects that I have grown attached to, mathematics and sciences.

I have big dreams with this major; it won't only make me the educated woman that I have been longing to become but also, be able to pay it forward to my beloved people. Hence my interest in engineering will hopefully help me build that well rounded medical care that my country needs. And I have pure faith that the engineering programs offered at Cornell University, will allow my dreams to come to a successful conclusion.

Undergraduate / "Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind." [6]

The excerpt is: 1."Rigorous reasoning is crucial in mathematics, and insight plays an important secondary role these days. In the natural sciences, I would say that the order of these two virtues is reversed. Rigor is, of course, very important. But the most important value is insight--insight into the workings of the world. It may be because there is another guarantor of correctness in the sciences, namely, the empirical evidence from observation and experiments."

"Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind." where the words of Immanuel Kant. From these words I understood that in order for the world to make sense, we need to combine our two faculties; our senses and our mind.

For example, if we see a stick in the water our visionary sense might mislead us into believing it is bent. But once we take it out we can see it is not deformed. Therefore it is hard to come to a conclusion by just relying on our senses. Instead I believe that, we need to allow some explanation to be given in order to understand the concept of the bent stick. The reason behind it is simple. That is, the refraction of light has allowed us to see the stick bent while it was in the water.

In mathematics, reasoning is crucial. For the years that I have been debating on how to believe the theories that I have been taught. The science lessons where easy to understand because, I could prove them with my senses, but in mathematics, especially with trigonometry, it was hard to relate them and prove them with my senses. Over the years, I have related the theories that I have picked up into everyday situation. This helped me prove that mathematics was something that I could take out of the classroom and use in practical every day circumstances. But now that I have come out of that "I need to see to believe" mentality, I now depend more on the reasoning in than insight.

Hence, I believe that weather it is in mathematics or natural science the importance of being rationalist or empirical may be reverse. But in the end, they are both necessary in the conclusion to convince the hardest judges (human beings), but I would agree more with reasoning as it is the key to the world around us, because after all, "We are because we think".

What do u guys think of my response ? =S