Undergraduate /
'it made me eager to read and interpret literature' -Stanford (Intellectual Vitality) [7]
I wrote out rough drafts for my other two Stanford essays but just need some help with the ideas and grammar.
Write a Note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate - or us - know you betterIm not exactly sure how to end this letter. Do I need to do a small paragraph on my personality?
Hey, I just want to let you know in advance that if you see me at the computer before you go to sleep and I am still there in the morning, I'm not in a coma. Pulling all nighters with my friends in video games is actually a regular occurrence on our weekends and has been since my sophomore year in high school. We generally play an online game religiously for a few months, obsessing until we master it. Sometimes I take this desire for perfection too far and can be a little competitive, but for the most part I keep myself in check and enjoy what I do.
One thing that you will come to learn about me is that I don't put much value on sleep. This has been true since I was young and is due to the fact that I want to experience as much as I can with my time. I would rather be awake interacting with people on campus, exploring the grounds, or talking to my old friends. Hopefully I won't upset you too much with my weird sleeping pattern, and I promise to be as quiet as possible late at night
You might not expect this from someone who was born and raised in New Jersey, but I am fascinated by Japanese culture. I frequently watch Japanese animation (anime) and read manga. In addition, I have also had an interest in the martial arts and plan to join the JKA Shotokan Karate club. Finally, I intend to take courses in both the Japanese language and culture so that I can learn as much as possible.
What matters to you, and why?It is funny how a person can have a war raging on inside of them and hardly recognize what is going on. This internal conflict goes quietly unnoticed until some stimulus, some event, or some realization takes hold of them and screams "wake up!". For me, this realization came from the utterance and explanation of a single word, postmodernist. Postmodernists are characterized by emotional numbness, having no hope or formal expectations, and parody of the outside world. Although it is a recent discovery (coming just at the beginning of this year), my exposure to the word has revealed what I have been struggling with since I was a freshman. There are two conflicting sides in me: one has the desire to help and care for others, while the other holds me back.
For me, this struggle has mainly been concerned with how I interact with people and what I plan to do in the future. Originally as a freshman, I resembled a stone wall. Nothing that happened around me, in the country, or even the world had any marked effect on me. But over time as I have developed, I began to think that I should care. I should try to do something. I still admittedly struggle at times to care, but I have developed a sense of concern and compassion for people. Now I try and help the people I see struggling rather than think "it's their problem" or "why should I care."
This struggle has also affected what I plan to do with my life. I used to think that what I did would not matter; I thought I could not have any effect on people. However, as I began to feel more compassion for others I decided I want to try and help. I am still not sure that I will make a difference, but I feel as though I have to try. Because it showed me the conflict I was going through, the word postmodernism has helped me go further from my postmodernist tendencies and more towards helping others. This struggle, although not unique, has influenced how I acted and what decisions I made.