Undergraduate / 'passion for geography' - UPenn Long Essay [4]

Required for all applicants: Considering both the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying and the unique aspects of the University of Pennsylvania, what do you hope to learn from and contribute to the Penn community? (Please answer in one page, approximately 500 words.)

I discovered my passion for geography in tenth grade. World Geography is a mandatory course at my high school and I began the year with relatively low expectations, anticipating that I would return to my love of History as a junior. However, I soon recognized that geography ties all my interests together, History, languages, English, and Sociology, and gives me a multifaceted approach to everyday life that I never had before. Eager to continue developing this passion, I decided to take AP Human Geography as my 11th grade social science rather than US History. It was the best decision I ever made and I realized that geography would play a major role in my life.

Earlier this year, I met a Penn senior who is majoring in Environmental Studies. At that point I wasn't sure what I wanted to pick as my major because Penn doesn't offer a geography degree. She raved about the freedom she's had at Penn and how interdisciplinary the major is-many of her classes are outside her degree. As she continued to describe her major, I noticed how similar it was to the course I loved so much eleventh grade. Intrigued, I researched Penn's Environmental Studies program and the college's emphasis on interdisciplinary study. After fifteen minutes online, I'd already switched from "Undecided" to "Environmental Studies" on my application. The educational options Penn offers would allow me not only to pursue my passion, but also to tailor a degree to my interests-sociology, international relations, and urban studies to name a few-with a freedom many other universities I've looked at do not offer their undergraduates.

Whilst browsing Penn's website, I found the college's "Preceptorials". They are a unique aspect of Penn that work to foster its students' dedication to learning through discussion of concepts chosen by students with faculty members. "Preceptorials" epitomize what I enjoy most about education. In most of my classes at National Cathedral School, we are given the opportunity to lead class discussion, debating our ideas with both our classmates and teachers. I believe Penn's stimulating environment would provide a forum in which I could thrive due to its small class sizes, incredible student mentorship, and encouragement of open discussion between faculty and undergraduates.

Another outstanding feature of Penn that caught my attention is its diverse community: the many clubs, sports, and different cultures present on campus were extremely apparent to me on my visit. All the colleges I've visited stressed their international populations but Penn stood out because its diversity was so striking and yet so integrated. This was most obvious in the vast diversity of my tour group. Over half were visiting from other countries. I am a British citizen and a US permanent resident. Penn's international range of students is highly important to me as I know it would add to my understanding of geography and I could add a great deal in return.

I think Penn is the perfect place for me to develop a deeper appreciation for, and understanding of, geography. I would treasure the opportunity to prove I belong at Penn and to share my passion with others who share it.

Undergraduate / Common app essay (topic of choice: Making fudge). [3]

I believe in making fudge, or more precisely, I believe in making decadent, old fashioned, hard fudge that is frustratingly difficult to produce. The fudge I'm talking about sparkles under bright lights, crumbles when you break it apart, and melts on your tongue if you have the self-restraint not to chew it. This is the best kind. The kind my grandmother always makes for Christmas. The kind that reminds me of my childhood. The kind that brings out the best and the worst in me.

I'm a perfectionist you see. My family think I'm OCD, which, if I'm honest, wouldn't surprise me at all. While this particular idiosyncrasy may help with schoolwork and baking, it does not bode so well for any activity involving boiling sugar. Boiling sugar, a temperamental substance at best, tends to do exactly the opposite of what you'd expect as my first attempt at fudge making more than adequately demonstrates.

I followed the Good Housekeeping recipe to a T. I measured every ounce of sugar, every cup of milk, every teaspoon of vanilla essence to precisely the prescribed amount. The mixture looked textbook as I continued to stir. A notoriously time consuming undertaking, I was prepared to spend rather a long time perfecting the fudge, however, to my dismay it began to thicken and congeal in a sudden burst of zealous action. I scraped the mixture out of the pan into a tin and watched with glum horror as my beautiful fudge set into a crumbly heap of failure. My father and grandmother tried to console me to no avail, claiming it was salvageable although it most obviously was not.

After a few minutes, I pulled myself together and decided to make one last attempt at creating this elusive delicacy before I went to bed. With steely determination, I set about recreating the fudge and eliminating any minor errors I thought I'd made. After nearly two hours, by sheer luck and a little guidance from my all-knowing mother, I did it. I made that relic of Christmases gone by. I had defeated the perfectionist's ultimate adversary: hot sugar.

The next time I made fudge, it turned into another hot mess.
I have made many fudge batches since and I think I've missed almost as many times as I've hit my goal. At first, accepting failure or anything less than my ideal was extremely difficult. Just as in all other aspects of my life, I like things to go as planned and am usually highly irritated when they don't. However, I began to learn how to enjoy failure as much as success because no matter what, the product tasted good.

I still feel pangs of annoyance when the sugar seizes or my fudge sets as toffee but these events have ceased to be as apocalyptic as they were. Like life, fudge is unpredictable and doesn't always go as planned. Especially during a time like senior year, the process helps to remind me that whatever the outcome, I'll find a way to make it work. Although I sometimes find the capriciousness of life incredibly difficult to accept, I've become more flexible to change and less easily rattled by what I cannot control. These subtle differences in my attitude towards life have helped me control my stress and find joy where I didn't before. Who knew making fudge could be so enlightening?