Undergraduate / 'soccer enthusiasts' - What factors have led you to consider Macalester College? [2]

What factors have led you to consider Macalester College? Why do you believe it may be a good match, and what do you believe you can add to the Mac community, academically and personally?

Feel free to draw on past experiences, and use concrete examples to support your perspective. Additional writing samples (e.g., class papers or creative writing) are welcomed as supplements, but are not substitutes for either essay.

Will, my host when I visited Macalester, told me at the end of my visit that he had a lunch scheduled with on of his professors, one who had spoken at the United Nations no more than a month before my visit. I could only smile and imagine how great it would be to be in Will's position. As for the rest of my visit, all that I heard from the people I met was about how great the academic atmosphere is: The intimacy with professors, the unique classes, and the under-grad research opportunities. All these gave me a feeling in my stomach that told me, "Mac is the place." The prospect of collaborative study with my professors and other students to better my understanding of Physics and Astronomy and others' points of view is what I see myself doing at Macalester.

I cannot go to a school where I am cooped up in my studies; Mac will allow me to grow my mind at a school where there is the potential to learn about an array of subjects. My own wide range of interests will help me become an interactive student. I will engage with my professors and fellow students not only focusing on Physics and Astronomy, but pursuing foreign language, historical, and literary studies. My desire to be a well-rounded student will help me grow, something I am looking for in my college experience, and help the people around me to also grow through being introduced to fresh ways of looking at interesting ideas.

The excellent quality of education at Mac is all part of immersion into the global society, a virtue that Macalester strives for through its international campus and emphasis on studying abroad. Studying and living in a different country for an extended period of time sounds like an incredible experience and an invaluable chance to learn about the world. It is great that Macalester offers this wonderful opportunity because in today's modern lifestyle people tend to get way too caught up in their personal spheres; studying abroad can create a more complete world-view. And learning about the world is essential in attempting to improve it. I have already begun to see the effect Mac's global atmosphere will have on me through a short conversation I had with a Lithuanian student on my weekend visit. I am also Lithuanian and am usually self-conscious about my inability to speak the language flawlessly, but at Mac I was not afraid to try and I ended up not doing too poorly. I hope that this miniscule instance was meant to be a preview of how Macalester can help me utilize my full potential.

Reaching that potential involves academics and the addition of participation in varsity athletics. I swam, played water polo and soccer through four years of high school and I have come to know soccer as the game and lifestyle I am most passionate about. Mac will give me the wonderful opportunity to continue my love of playing the game, to make lifelong friends, and to be a role model to local kids coming to watch our games. With Macalester's tremendous international student body and with soccer's popularity around the globe I hope that this can be a recipe that will create a bond between me and other passionate soccer enthusiasts on campus.