I've always had the desire to learn and to well to others - "good life"

Prompt
We often hear the phrase 'the good life'. In fact, the University of Florida's common course required of all undergraduate students is titled "What is the Good Life?". The concept of 'the good life' can be interpreted in many different ways depending upon the experiences, values and aspirations of each individual.

In a concise narrative, describe your notion of 'the good life'. How will your undergraduate experience at the University of Florida prepare you to live 'the good life'?

ESSAY
As any other 2 year old would have done, I often played outside in the yard and when all the other children went inside; my curiosity prevented me from joining them. I liked to stay outside and watch the night sky, the stars, hear all the sounds that the crickets, frogs and insects made, contemplate everything that was around me. It was something that filled me, gave me an inner peace. After a while being a spectator wasn't enough, I wanted to know how and why everything that was around me came to be. That's when my thirst for knowledge began. As I grew up my thirst for knowledge became bigger and bigger, it wasn't completely related to school, it was more of a desire to know why and how everything worked. I began to read my dad's encyclopedias, to watch science shows, and to ask my parents questions about everything.

That's when my parents started to teach me things that I couldn't learn from reading encyclopedias or watching science shows, they taught me to appreciate every effort people make to make others happy, to be grateful for what I have, to see the value in things not by the number but the meaning of that number and most importantly that if you are selfless while helping others you will be helping yourself. With that my little self started to have a grasp on what life really is.

As the years passed I was able to gather new experiences and keep on developing my notion of what a good life was. Most of the new experiences came from traveling and meeting new people. Because of this I was able to experience and learn from new cultures on how to live "the good life". Most of the cultures and people shared the same idea of what "the good life" was with a few differences here and there; it was having wealth. But my questions were always the same, what does "wealth" mean to you? Does that "wealth" fills your desires and makes you happy? Most of them were just following a common denominator and never really thought about those questions or what really allowed them to achieve happiness. I wasn't really sure either, until I matured and was able to answer those questions myself.

What makes a good life? That can only be determined by the person who lives it. If at the end, and you are lucky enough to be able to review it, you are fulfilled, who is anybody to say that it wasn't a good life? As long as you haven't caused undo harm along the way to your fulfillment, that your fulfillment does not come at the expense of others, should we say that 'no, that was not a life worth living? In my case it all goes back to the beginning of what I can remember, I've always had the desire to learn and to well to others, as long as I can do that I will be living a "good life"

Being an undergraduate at the University of Florida will not only prepare me to live "the good life" by having the opportunity to study Biomedical Engineering, but at the same time allowing me to learn and participate in an incredible campus life that the university has to offer.