Undergraduate / "lack of parental love and support" - discuss local issue and its importance to you [2]

Please give me some feedback on my Common App essay.

Thanks.

Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.

Thursday is a tiring day; it's the day before Friday, which is the day when all my classes seem to be a breeze because it's the end of the week and the weekend is just around the corner. Thursday is a tall brick wall I have to scale every week to reach Freedom Friday, as I like to think of it. But there is one thing about Thursday that I enjoy very much. Let me run you through it.

At 3 p.m. I make my way to the school bus bay and board a mini-van where I plop down at the back and doze off. I usually wake up half an hour later as the air conditioning turns off and the mini-van's engine stops rumbling. I then march outside onto the tarmac, armed with an all-in-one board game and sports gear. This is Boys' Town.

Boys' Town is a charitable institution for boys with troubled backgrounds, usually involving separated parents, financial troubles and learning difficulties. As part of my school's social service program, every Thursday I go to their campus with 8 to 10 students and a teacher. Over there I get to meet some of the most promising children who have very diverse talents, ranging from playing soccer to singing to body building. My task is simply to interact with the boys through board games, sports and other such activities. At first, I found it extremely difficult to crack their introverted personalities and communicate with them. With each week I got to know the boys a bit better and I soon figured out that sports was the key to their hearts. At the bounce of a soccer ball the boys' heads would cock up, like a fox tracking a scurrying field mouse. A horde of the younger ones would make a mad dash for the ball, each vying for the opportunity to show off their talents. When I grabbed the ball I also grabbed every kid's attention and thus was able to get to know them better.

My peers and I played several soccer matches at Boys' Town, facing off against a group of youngsters around the age of 10 to 13. Now, our team had fairly competent athletes with good ball skills and all but what we witnessed on the pitch put us to shame. Like a well-oiled machine, they made quick work of our defense and picked apart our offensive plays with great ease. Their unspoken communication and awareness of their surroundings was particularly impressive, exemplified by frequent back-heel passes and no-look passes.

It was truly inspiring to watch the children in their domain, their intense expressions showed their level of concentration and focus. At the same time I was saddened, knowing that these children hadn't had the chance to showcase themselves in mainstream schooling. Despite their joyful exterior, I was informed that the children often run away and get depressed. The lack of parental love and support is probably the reason, something I can't fix. Therefore, I feel that it is my duty to do as much as possible to bridge this emotional gap and prepare the boys for their adulthood. Now I realize the true purpose of our interactions with the boys, it's much more than board games and sports, its building lives.

Undergraduate / Cornell UG Mech Eng - "what is your eng idea and how can Cornell help you?" [7]

I'm not finished with this but I would like some feedback anyway. Am I going in the right direction?

I've noticed that a lot of other essays begin with people saying how they tinkered with toys and thats how they became interested in engineering, blah blah blah. I've purposely avoided that but do I need to establish more personal context or is the essay fine the way it is?

I plan to dedicate the last 200 words or so to explaining why I believe Cornell can help me with my idea. Does anybody have any tips or suggestions?

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. (Maximum of 500 words)

Energy crises all over the world have led mankind to fight an uphill battle to solve our energy problems as Mother Nature's resources are being depleted at an ever-increasing rate. The recent push for green energy has left scientists scrambling to develop new technologies and dabbling with highly dangerous substances such as uranium. I believe the uncertainty associated with such endeavors and the potential for disaster is too much of a gamble. Moreover, many nations are still reeling from the recent economic downturn and the livelihoods of billions of people hang in the balance.

Worldwide, the transportation sector is responsible for the consumption of a vast amount of energy with close to a billion cars having a meager ~20% fuel efficiency. Several alternative fuel vehicles have been produced to reduce our carbon footprints and conserve the precious fossil fuel deposits we have remaining. Hybrid electric cars and biodiesel cars are two such innovations, however neither of these vehicles have really hit home with consumers. This is due to a whole host of problems, which may take years to resolve... years that we cannot afford to waste.

My engineering idea deals with the issue of low fuel efficiency in today's gasoline-powered vehicles. We have yet to tap into the energy gasoline can provide us due to limitations in the design of the internal combustion engine. The heavy energy losses in the form of heat and sound need to be minimized. More energy should be used to rotate the wheels of our cars instead of contributing to noise pollution and the onset of a global environmental meltdown. I would like to explore the design of the modern IC engine, try to overcome some of its limitations and ultimately increase its efficiency. The end product must also remain viable for the average consumer; I believe this will be the biggest challenge as the technologies involved need to be scalable.

Word count: 316

Thanks,
Shravan