Undergraduate / I love chemistry; Cornell Supp - intended major [3]

Describe your intellectual interests, their evolution, and what makes them exciting to you. Tell us how you will utilize the academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences to further explore your interests, intended major, or field of study.

I would say this in a more professional manner but there isn't one-I love chemistry! However there was a time when in my head, chemistry was nothing more than a horrid table of elements. Lithium, barium, all these -ium words, oh dear God no! Perhaps, I was scared of knowledge, but that's never the case; I was simply ignorant and as a result, did not intend to enjoy the experience. It was in a surreal state of mind that I began to "like" chemistry. With the help of a passionate 10th grade teacher, I fell in love with the topics of stoichiometry and kinetics. In a subject I had strongly disliked, I found solace in the mathematical aspect of chemistry, the field of study I now plan to pursue.

With an intense passion for numbers, I began to discover the mathematical side of chemistry and began to draw correlations between the math of chemistry of the chemistry of math. Following my perfect score on the final exam, I did not hesitate to sign up for AP Chemistry. Deemed as the most challenging course in the school with not so great teachers, I was not daunted to live a little. A few months in, my grade in the class was nowhere near where I had intended it to be. My teacher saw poor test scores, yet a kid that seemed passionate about a subject that "he was not good at"? Confusion. Only made the course more exciting; the understandable things excite no one. Chemistry, the folly of myself, had wooed me. Unlike previous things that I had given up on after failing such as playing guitar, learning the 7x7x7 Rubik's cube, or self-studying French, I felt that chemistry was something I needed to perfect.

After reading this, you (as an officer for the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University) may deem me as a stubborn fool. If you aren't good at chemistry, do something else! No, thank you. Teachers of Albert Einstein said he "would never amount to much". Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for "lacking imagination" and "having no original ideas". Steve Jobs was fired from Apple shortly after founding it. If you've never failed, you've never tried anything new. Why do I believe in Cornell? Cornell believes in me. As one of the regular faces in the Margaret M. Dyson Vision Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College, I've dedicated my past 3 years to a Cornell institution, learning and carrying out my own experiments. Surrounded by Cornellians day in and day out, I know this is the place for me. Since entering the WCMC in the fall of 2010, it has come to fruition that my top choice is Cornell University and nowhere else.

To me, Cornell University provides me with a concrete education, but certainly there is always more to be learned. Cornell connects me to a network of scholars, a network that I already have a foot in the door of. Cornell brings two fashionable colors together onto my sweatshirt that I already own. Cornell, to me, is a whole lot more than what most students pertain it to be. To Cornell, I am an invaluable asset. I am a wild card (just like the 2007 and 2011 NY Giants that ended up winning the Super Bowl). You'll see that although I may not the nonchalant genius, I'll contribute more than he ever will. I'm passionate about what I do. I bring to Cornell the confidence and swagger of a determined individual. Someday down the road, I may decide to walk out of the biohazard door and into another door. Where knowledge falters, determination does not. That is why Cornell University is the best place for me and why Cornell University need not look any further for a prospective member of the Class of 2017.