Undergraduate / 'this madness our world is displaying' - Common App Main Essay [2]

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

Garbage jammed streets, filthy rivers, unbreathable air and to make it worse, the crowd's indifference to all this. These were some of the spectacles that I observed when growing up. "So, what is this madness our world is displaying?" I asked myself many times as a boy. As I grew up, the answer started to become a little clear. But it was after watching Leonardo Di Caprio's 'The 11th Hour' I understood the real picture. Not that I was earlier oblivious to the fact that we our assaulting the place we live in, but it made me understand the gravity of the situation. I was able to conclude that if we have to give ourselves even the slightest of chance, there is no better moment to act than now.

Environmental problems, however obvious they may be, are increasing in magnitude every second. Earlier, whenever I heard the phrase related to saving our planet, I had a sense of sympathy and pity towards it. But, I realized that, planetary collisions aside, the planet is here to stay no matter what we do. However selfish it may sound, but the fact is that we have no one but us to worry about and blame for putting ourselves in such a situation. What we call Man's power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument. These words by C.S. Lewis are absolutely true. The major polluters of the environment are mostly people who are much more 'educated' than the average Joe. It came as a revelation to me and I just could not take my mind of the fact that people, even after knowing all the ground realities, were still treating it as a problem that would pass by.

I have been a firm believer in cleanliness since I can remember. So, for me the solution was to 'clean' our environment. In India, the general consensus among people is that if a place is already filthy there is no harm in making it even filthier. This, according to them, justifies their act of throwing waste on the public places. After my efforts of stopping some of my friends from throwing their food leftovers and the polythene carry-bags looked to have no effect on them, I decided to just quietly pick up the waste and throw it in the dustbin. Initially it made me a laughing stock as they thought that I was just wasting my time. But after many 'pick ups', they realized that they had no right to complain about how dirty the roads are or how the government is not doing enough, if they continue to neglect their surroundings.

The problem has changed my attitude in numerous ways, but not my optimism. I remain positive about the future of humans and believe we can use the organ which we are so proud of and use it to try and cherish nature's beauty.

What outlook do you get of me through this??
Please make a change wherever you feel is necessary....
Thanks a ton!!!!

Undergraduate / UIUC ESSAY #2 Interest/Experience [2]

In an essay of 300 words or less, tell us something about yourself that isn't covered elsewhere in this application, some interest or experience of yours that you think the University of Illinois should know about as part of the admissions review.

Music has been a part of my life as far as I can remember. It has made me enjoy a roller-coaster of emotions. From feeling sentimental while listening to Michael Jackson's Earth Song to being inspired by Hans Zimmer's epic soundtracks to head banging to Metallica's For Whom The Bell Tolls, every song invokes an emotion in me. My first experience playing an instrument was in the third grade with the keyboard. Initially I only learned Indian classical music but after a few years of listening to western music, I wanted to play some other instrument. I chose guitar and loved it. But I really got into the groove when I started singing. I always used consider myself as a bathroom singer but never had the confidence to sing in front of an audience despite performing for a few years with keyboard and guitar. It was through my family's encouragement that I was able to do it. My self confidence was further boosted when I was appreciated by the vocal teacher at my music school. When I got an opportunity my band to perform 'Smoke On The Water' with my band for the school farewell, that was when I decided to take vocals much more seriously. Through Youtube I have been trying to improve my singing and test my limits. I believe that learning, playing and listening to various genres of music have helped in my intellectual growth and enabled me to believe in myself. It has given me the freedom of getting lost without losing my path.

The flow of the essay is not right, I know!!!
Someone please suggest a way to make it flow and not sound like a list of facts.
Thanks!!!!!!!!!

Undergraduate / Urbana Champaign Essay #1 Academic Interest - Civil and environmental engineering [2]

Growing up in an environment where sights of people starving could not be missed, I developed a habit of never wasting food. But when I saw that same logic going to the dogs with respect to maintaining the place where we live in, it perplexed me. People just throw garbage on the roads and rivers, which are supposed to be holy, without any second thought and the trend does not seem to change in the near future until acted upon.

This initially led me to develop a sense of pity towards our nature. My attitude changed when I realized that nature is not going to get finished no matter what we do to it. It is only us that we have to save.

Living in a city with one of the worst pollution levels in the world, I understood the importance of a clean and sustainable environment pretty early. The fact that innumerable people on the streets are suffering from many diseases which can be prevented by providing them with clean air and water gets on my nerves. How is that even a slight change in temperature results in world catastrophe? How can we build green buildings feasibly?

To try and answer these questions, I first need to understand the system which we currently follow. Civil and environmental engineering is an approach by which I can do this and hope that I can be a part of my dream of a world where technology is in sync with our environment.

Would really appreciate some feedback!!!
If someone could tell me where to add more and give alternatives if something is wrong...
Thanks!!!!!

Undergraduate / 'Ultimate Energy Creator' : If you could invent something what would it be and why? [2]

Its a rough draft. Please help me as the deadline is 15th December.. Thanks!!!
Gatech Essay : If you could invent something what would it be and why??

If someday I acquire the skills to invent something I would build the UEC.
UEC, Ultimate Energy Creator, would be a device which would enable anyone to create energy from virtually any movement playing the guitar, surfing channels with the remote or simply walking to get a glass of water, the UEC can convert these mechanical energies to electrical energies. It consists of tiny receptors that sense even the tiniest of movements and then convert them to electrical signals which are interpreted by the receiver. The receiver then detects the level of energy and converts it to either electrical energy that can be stored in batteries or can be directly linked to a device. The UEC can either be strapped onto a person's arm or leg or can even be attached to an object. It will not harm the person's body in any way as it moulds into the shape of the wearer. It can also be modified to be built into almost anything. For instance a shoe could have a mini UEC built in or for large scale production it multiple UECs could be set up on an area with frequent footfalls.

The UEC will bring a revolution in the energy sector as the dependence on non-renewable sources will dramatically decrease and people will have a simple and effective way of obtaining energy, at least for daily use. The UEC will also change the way in which energy is distributed since the energy for most of the mobile gadgets will be taken care by the consumer himself. The power accumulated by a person could be used for powering mobile phones, music players, and other similar devices. Also, the fitness centres could create enough energy to meet their electricity requirements. Similarly, in sports a sportsperson could create enough power to manage the equipments he/she uses. Like in football the energy generated by the players could be used for powering the floodlights of the stadium. So, the money that was earlier spent on the development of the mobile power sector could now be spent on springing up new technologies to tap the vast potential in renewable energy. The device, being so portable, will also reach a wider spectrum of consumers. In addition to that it will encourage people to make more physical effort. The concept of "do it while you use it" will become more popular.

For the people living in the parts of the world where availability of all their energy requirements is from traditional sources such as coal and wood the UEC will be a boon. For example in the case of India where the farmers don't get adequate reward for the amount of labour they put in.

The idea behind the UEC is to make the best use of the physical activities that are done by the people. So, like in Africa where most of the young generation is accustomed to rigorous physical training, they would be able to provide electricity to their area on their own. An athlete, after doing his training could store the energy in the UEC and use that energy to provide power for the lights in his/her village for a day at least. Similarly in a country like India, where a farmer works for about 10 hours a day he would not have to care about providing electricity for his family.