An intriguing concept, theory, or topic you have explored; fascinated by geography

Questbridge National College Match Essay

Prompt: Tell us about a concept, theory, or topic you have explored simply because it sparked your intellectual curiosity. Why do you find it intriguing? How do you want to further explore it?

Essay: My fascination towards geography and all of its aspects has been present throughout the entirety of my schooling. Seeing the world around me and how much of it was influenced by our neighbors intrigued me, and beckoned me to learn more. With my grandparents, I would learn both the physical and statistical information on various countries, as well as different cultures that inhabited each region. I would research various locations on my own, learn about their inner workings; their landscape, their finance and wealth, their people, and their language, and pictured myself living there, adopting the customs. I unfortunately, however, did not have the chance to travel, though independent research served as an effective substitute.

Watching television was no help either. Everytime I heard a new country I was not yet familiarized with, it was imperative that I know the basics of it.

As if only to increase the damage geography had inflicted, my grandfather had purchased a three by four foot map that immediately found its place over my bed. Sometimes when preparing for sleep I would think of a random country that I may have not thought of in a while, stand up on my bed and reacquaint myself with its flag, and geographical location then resume my slumber.

I greatly recall the pure elation that went through me when I found out about the Geography Bee's existence. With the combination of my map and the 'World' book i had purchased, my studying was priority. I never made it past the school level, but being tested on my knowledge was satisfying enough.

By travelling around the world, in the appropriate time, I would be able to put my much accumulated knowledge to use. Although knowing the population of the capital and who the fourth monarch was may not be imperative knowledge in travelling, full immersion may allow for a further exploration as well as an understanding on the interaction between people and their environment.

Anthony, your essay is good, but lacking in terms of response to "How do you want to further explore it?". Surely there are other ways of feeding your fascination for geography by say, joining appropriate clubs, memberships in relevant organizations, or, using your time at college to acquaint yourself with the geography of the place where you will be spending the next 4 years of life at. Wouldn't those count as other ways of exploration? There may even be school sponsored trips that you could take in relation to this interest.

Here's an idea, why don't you look further into the extra curricular clubs or geography classes that could be considered common among the universities that Questbridge normally submits to. Find out which programs they have in common that you could take advantage of as a student. That way, you will be showing your imminent future plans rather than your 20 years down the road plans for exploring your geographic interests further.