Id like to start off by saying thank you to all those who helped me with my Statement of Purpose. It turned out far better than I had imagined and I am sure with your guidance Essay B will be just as good.
The prompt is listed below and I am looking forward to your comments and criticisms
Personal Essay
Choose an issue of importance to you - the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope - and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
The child raised his hand to his mouth and pretended to eat something. He then put his hands together as if to pray, bowed his head, and pleaded for money. I had 20 Indian rupees (roughly 45 cents) remaining and gave the sum to the boy. He thanked me and claimed this was the most money he'd ever received. The boy left our car and proceeded to the next car stuck at the stoplight. As he left, beggars barraged our car from all sides. Mothers pressed their unclothed babies forward, older men lifted their tattered garments to reveal missing limbs, and children told us how long it had been since they last ate. That was my first experience with absolute poverty.
I have travelled abundantly and have visited nearly every state in the union, Canada, many countries in the European Union, Australia, Fiji, India, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates. During my travels I have witnessed the living conditions people cope with everyday. Commonalities that I have compared and contrasted along my journeys are groups of people with immense wealth and other groups with very little capital. For example when I took a trip to Dubai summer of 2009, I saw huge multimillion dollar buildings, exotic cars on every street corner, and malls that would make the Mall of America look like a child's play thing. To say the locals were well off is an understatement, but if one looked to the opposite end of the spectrum they would see the blue collar workers who shed blood, sweat, and tears to build Dubai. The men and women would earn a couple of dollars an hour and had to sustain a living in Dubai while sending money home to Indonesia, Pakistan or India. This was the most evident comparison of wealth and poverty that I had ever seen.
After some deliberation I have come to the conclusion that the current system of world aid is in need of a serious overhaul. The organizations that distribute aid need to be more transparent about how they are spending donated money. Organizations need to change their priorities; we need to focus more resources on education. With education we can increase human capital in poorly developed countries exponentially.
After the Haiti earthquake I have conversed with many individuals who believe that we should spend aid money at home and renovate conditions here before we approach international affairs. I respectfully disagree on the grounds that if we invest into underdeveloped countries we can benefit from increased trade with them in the future. In essence by investing a comparatively small sum of money, our economy can reap considerable dividends when the third world nation's standard of living increases. The world functions in a ways that is very similar to the way any sports team functions: when the weakest link is strengthened, the rest of the team can attempt to improve.
Poverty and the lack of education will bring the world to its knees if something is not done. A quote by Norman Peale comes to mind, "Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads can do that." I feel certain that if the citizens of wealthy nations give more of their hard-earned money and charities use it effectively we can overcome the gap that has divided the rich and poor for so long.
The prompt is listed below and I am looking forward to your comments and criticisms
Personal Essay
Choose an issue of importance to you - the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope - and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
The child raised his hand to his mouth and pretended to eat something. He then put his hands together as if to pray, bowed his head, and pleaded for money. I had 20 Indian rupees (roughly 45 cents) remaining and gave the sum to the boy. He thanked me and claimed this was the most money he'd ever received. The boy left our car and proceeded to the next car stuck at the stoplight. As he left, beggars barraged our car from all sides. Mothers pressed their unclothed babies forward, older men lifted their tattered garments to reveal missing limbs, and children told us how long it had been since they last ate. That was my first experience with absolute poverty.
I have travelled abundantly and have visited nearly every state in the union, Canada, many countries in the European Union, Australia, Fiji, India, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates. During my travels I have witnessed the living conditions people cope with everyday. Commonalities that I have compared and contrasted along my journeys are groups of people with immense wealth and other groups with very little capital. For example when I took a trip to Dubai summer of 2009, I saw huge multimillion dollar buildings, exotic cars on every street corner, and malls that would make the Mall of America look like a child's play thing. To say the locals were well off is an understatement, but if one looked to the opposite end of the spectrum they would see the blue collar workers who shed blood, sweat, and tears to build Dubai. The men and women would earn a couple of dollars an hour and had to sustain a living in Dubai while sending money home to Indonesia, Pakistan or India. This was the most evident comparison of wealth and poverty that I had ever seen.
After some deliberation I have come to the conclusion that the current system of world aid is in need of a serious overhaul. The organizations that distribute aid need to be more transparent about how they are spending donated money. Organizations need to change their priorities; we need to focus more resources on education. With education we can increase human capital in poorly developed countries exponentially.
After the Haiti earthquake I have conversed with many individuals who believe that we should spend aid money at home and renovate conditions here before we approach international affairs. I respectfully disagree on the grounds that if we invest into underdeveloped countries we can benefit from increased trade with them in the future. In essence by investing a comparatively small sum of money, our economy can reap considerable dividends when the third world nation's standard of living increases. The world functions in a ways that is very similar to the way any sports team functions: when the weakest link is strengthened, the rest of the team can attempt to improve.
Poverty and the lack of education will bring the world to its knees if something is not done. A quote by Norman Peale comes to mind, "Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads can do that." I feel certain that if the citizens of wealthy nations give more of their hard-earned money and charities use it effectively we can overcome the gap that has divided the rich and poor for so long.