Why Northwestern?
Prompt:
In 300 words or less, help us understand how you might engage specific resources, opportunities, and/or communities here.
We are curious about what these specifics are, as well as how they may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond.
Essay Start:
So many subjects delight me. I am interested in biology AND philosophy, technology AND psychology, literature AND cognition. It's in my DNA.
From the outside, one wouldn't expect a STEM oriented person like me to be enthralled by literature. And yet I've spent countless mornings groggy after a night of reading by flashlight. Percy Jackson and Harry Potter filled my childhood, but as I grew older I was introduced to political and social concepts through Ender's Game and Isaac Asimov's Foundation. Zlata's Diary, All The Light We Cannot See, Trevor Noah's Born a Crime and so many more have further influenced the way I think. Through literature I've explored my own philosophies, creating weird blends like optimistic nihilism yet a strong belief in the importance of the church. At Northwestern, Professor Gary Morson's famous class "Russian Literature" or Professor Megan Hyska's "Introduction to the Philosophy of Language" are the perfect places for me to explore my fascination.
I've also always been captivated by Biology and Computer Science. From K-12, my brain has been filled with cell membranes, for loops, encryption, and protein structures, all equally exciting (shout out to Mrs. Stine for sparking my love for mnemonics and binomial nomenclature!). My favorite part is that though the subjects are completely different in material, they both share a logic based foundation. Every element and molecule follows a logical "this causes that" pathway, all together creating incredibly intricate systems of reactions forming what we call life. Every line of code gives the computer a specific instruction, creating cascades of information that allow us to use the basic functions of the computer. Northwestern has an array (haha) of great professors and courses that I would love to explore my favorite topics through.
Computer Science, Biology, and Psychology are my bread and butter. Through them I've found Cognitive Science, an awesome blend of subjects used to understand one of Earth's greatest complexities. What's especially interesting to me is that Cognitive Science is interdisciplinary at its core, meaning that the Northwestern quarter system complements the essence of what Cogn Sci is. Should I want to explore a certain part of my major further, such as how artificial intelligence attempts to imitate our neurological processes (biomimicry is so cool!), I could take those classes with flexibility. And, as the cherry on top, the Cognitive Science program is expansive with incredible faculty. I would love to study under Professor Mark Beeman and get involved at the Creative Cognition Lab in his exploration of human problem solving and intuition.
Why Northwestern?
Because where else can I be AND.
(I know this is too long, I plan to cut it down to meet the 300 word limit)