Undergraduate / 'U.S. failed to secure a decisive victory to end the conflict' - Georgetown SFS essay [3]

The Afghan War began on October 7, 2001. Since then, many things have happened, but the U.S Armed Forces, like Alexander the Great and Russia before it, have failed to secure a decisive victory to end the conflict it is involved in. With a withdrawal not scheduled until 2014, the war will cost many more billions of dollars, and more importantly, young soldier's lives. The only hope is some sort of treaty with the Taliban, which may be on the horizon.

The Taliban, a militant group who had power in Afghanistan until 2001, has been bitterly fighting the United States and as it's Western Allies for over 11 years, and has allied itself with Al-Qaeda, but that all could change very soon. While the Taliban has previously agreed to negotiate peace talks only when all U.S forces are pulled out of Afghanistan, it now has began to go through the channels in order to open a liaison office in Qatar. And while the Taliban have asked for the release of Afghan prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, it may be well worth it because if all is agreed upon, the Taliban would renounce violence, break ties with their ally Al-Qaeda and abide by the Afghan constitution.

The United States government as well as all involved in the conflict would be negligent in the handling of the war if these peace talks were not pursued further. Both sides would benefit from the talks and while President Karzai of Afghanistan was against the first peace talks, he has come out expressing a desire to see the peace talks through as long as he and the Afghan people play a primary role in the event. The turning point of the war could not be a battle but rather a discussion, and this could lead to the end of the war and the saving of American and Afghan lives.

The peace talks are perhaps one of the biggest steps in ending the War on Terror in Iraq, Afghanistan, and across the Middle East since the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and may be the answer to solve the puzzle of obtaining a victory in Afghanistan and the War on Terror.

366 words

please tell me if it is long enough

Undergraduate / 'the last United Way meeting' - Georgetown General [3]

At the last United Way meeting we had listened to a guest speaker for an organization called CASA, a group whose efforts were dedicated to attempting to clean up a once very nice, humble Hispanic neighborhood in my city. I had convinced my friends to sign up for the project because I was tired of volunteering at the Scholastic Book Fair, not realizing the impact the project would have on me. I had never been to her neighborhood and felt I should see that part of Lubbock. I had pulled up to the location where I was going to volunteer at that day, a dilapidated building that looked like it had been neglected for quite some time. The metal sides were rusted; the parking lot was barely visible due to the grass and dirt covering it. It was eight o'clock in the morning, and it was time to get started.

I stepped out and nervously looked around and walked over to a group of friends and other teenagers. I took a deep breath, smelling something inviting in the air. I looked to my left, seeing the woman speaker handing out homemade breakfast burritos and small containers full of dark red salsa with a friendly smile spanning her face. We all ate a quick but very delicious breakfast full of good food and orange juice and began to work. I took a wheel barrel and a shovel, and made my way to the parking lot, while others worked on other parts of the building. Members of the community flooded to lend a helping hand and an intimidating man who stood about six foot four inches tall with tattoos down his arms had decided to assist me in shoveling a foot of dirt that concealed the pavement below.. He said his name was Ramón but all of his friends called him Ray. We started to work, and with an extra set of very large hands the work went by much quicker. Ray and I began to talk and I had learned that he grew up in the neighborhood, and had seen it descend from a nice well-respected Lubbock community to a thing of past, and wanted to restore it to its former glory.

Before I knew it, it was twelve o'clock. We all took a step back to admire our work. The parking lot was no longer a field, the building had been resided and the panels of rust had been removed. The stone and the concrete that had been stained black were washed clean and now shined in the glow of the sun. The entrance to the neighborhood was no longer a sign to stay away but a symbol of kindness and hope for the revival of the neighborhood. I had been scared and hesitant to sign up for the project but will never forget the experience as I learned about a diverse community where I helped make a difference.

This experience has led me to the realization that not everyone lives like others, and to fully understand a diverse community one must jump in and become involved with all walks of life. During my first experience I felt out of place but since then I have had the opportunity to see how people live and thrive in different places and communicate with them whether they be fisherman from a small village called Yakatat, Alaska to a heart surgeon who graduated from Harvard.

At Georgetown, there are many different kinds of people, and one must not intimidated by them in order to obtain a quality education of higher learning. Taking what I have learned from this experience I could become very involved by organizing and participating in activities such as volunteering in areas of Washington, D.C. or just having a meet and greet so students can interact with each other, become friends, and make connections in the diverse community that is Georgetown University.