Undergraduate / People idealize their goals; So where is Waldo, really? - UChicago [4]

I've written my UChicago essay, but based on other essays that I've taken a look at, mine seems a little short and maybe unimaginative...

Maybe you guys could help?

Essay Option 6: So where is Waldo, really?

Waldo. We know his name but not his story. Behind those round glasses, behind the striped shirt, lies an enigma. Yet, people all over the world strive to find him, feverishly flipping through the pages filled with red and white just for a rare glimpse of the individual. But who is Waldo?

In the same way, people idealize their goals, spending their entire lives desperately trying to find their own 'Waldo'. We set our dreams on a pedestal, and we try any way imaginable to reach it; but by having a shallow understanding of our goals, and by just simply defining it with the 'round glasses and striped shirt', we will not know anything beyond it. And yet we reach towards the beacon that is our goal, just like how readers flip through the pages to find Waldo.

Take a look at the Great Gatsby, for example. Gatsby spent years trying to find Daisy, his 'Waldo'. Never mind how he did it. Never mind the alter ego, the illegal bootlegging, the shady acquaintances, as he believed that the ends would justify the means. With his mindset so narrowly focused on his one goal, he fanatically poured his entire existence into a single purpose, never giving much thought about the 'what if's'. Gatsby never seriously considered the implications of finding his 'Waldo', and did not truly understand his goal. He never took a long look at his dream and thought about what would happen if Daisy refused to leave her husband. And in the end, she didn't. All that was left in his life to do was to lie in a float in his pool, where he finally met as death as George Wilson shot him. By idealizing his goal, he asked 'where', but not 'who'.

I feel that this topic is actually quite relevant to us students ready to leave for college. In my opinion, we are relatively young and naĂŻve, and many of us will have a set goal in mind, something to strive for, a 'Waldo' to find. However, while our goal may be something that motivates us and pushes us forward, we should not idealize our goals in a way that simplifies our understanding of its implications. Neither should we work obsessively towards a goal that we do not properly understand.

What I am trying to say is, we will have goals. We will strive towards these goals given the motivation. However, it's not just about the summit. It's also about the route down from the mountain.

And therefore, I answer your question with another: So who is Waldo, really?