Like all applicants, I seek in an institution what I deem to be the basic and necessary aspects of a learning environment: a challenging and stimulating courses, helpful and didactic professors and classes, and a means of paving the way to a promising career. What is missing from the other institutions that I researched is an innovative and colorful approach to education, where students are only interested in fulfilling credits and picking up a degree. I have been cautious not to romanticize my vision of intellectual paradise, but from my research, University of Chicago, you feel just right. There is something about you that makes everyone else seem lackluster. You facilitate not just intellectuals and aggressive learners but independent thinkers. I finally found what I was always looking for.
What I learned about the University of Chicago all struck a chord with me. This is it, I thought. This is what I had always imagined for myself in a school, the type of intellectual environment I had always desired with a high caliber of academics and passion for learning. Before even learning about the "Life of the Mind" I had long decided that is the life for me.
I aim not to simply succeed academically and fulfill my requirements, but take something from the University and flourish, as well as bring my talents, my natural love for knowledge and insatiable curiosity.
I have always looked beyond. It once hit me how transient my life was and wondered how I would make my mark in a seemingly infinite human cycle. I voiced my thoughts, as a fifteen year old, speculating on the short lives of human beings and longing to make my existence in infinite time worthwhile. I always hated the idea of specification and looked to versatility of knowledge and universality of ideas. And thus, what I want more than anything is a healthy environment that can receive my ideas, and where I can learn from other ideas. Although I have not yet had the chance to meet the University in person, just through my research and the way the undergraduate application is presented, I am confident that the University of Chicago is truly the only one for me because of its emphasis on self-expression. The University of Chicago will allow me to make a mark in a transient lifetime.
I feel as though Chicago needs me just as much as I need it. I am inclined to curiosity, I am attracted to challenge and I push my limits. I have never been one to mindlessly complete assignments in pursuit of a grade. I am not afraid to voice my thoughts nor am I afraid to listen and to approach an issue from all sides. I have always been the one in class to actively participate in discussions, and have always been the one to pose broad and beyond questions to the teacher.
High school did spark my interests but has made me want more, to develop my interests further. I fell in love with literature, with discussing literature. It delighted me how universal literature was and how applicable the ideas were. It was not until sophomore year that I began to understand that I had a talent for writing and expressing my responses to great works of literature. I understood personally the benefit of small class size and a unique approach to teaching when I transferred to a school in Raleigh, North Carolina, coming from an enormous, overcrowded school in Los Angeles. My English teacher especially impressed me with his exciting and innovative approach to teaching that made for memorable learning. His class introduced me to intimate class book discussions that juggled broad concepts from works such as Oedipus Rex and Ayn Rand's Anthem. He taught us the word 'synthesize', and explained that it was a method of higher thinking. Once, he instructed a boy to fill a holed cup with water, and while the water leaked out, he explained the nature of an incomplete idea. His class allowed me to realize learning and thinking far exceedd fill-in-the-blank worksheets, and that the questions that need to be asked are the ones whose answers cannot not be found in the back of a textbook.
I will thrive under the personal attention at Chicago knowing I do not represent just another number but a unique individual offering special qualities. I am ready to devote myself to the University of Chicago for the sake of knowledge and ideas. I am confident that I can flourish as not only as a student of the great University of Chicago, but also as a thinker, an innovator, a disciple, and leader.
This is a spectacular essay! You answered the question and even went beyond that by writing a little about your career interest. I really enjoyed reading your essay. One thing I would suggest though is that if you are going to end your essay saying "I am confident I can flourish as not only as a student...but also as a thinker, an innovator, a disciple and leader" you should probably write a few sentences about you being a leader or disciple.
Anyway best of luck on your apps!:)
