Hi guys again, and thanks for helping me with UChic essays :).
This essay did not have any word limit so i wrote about 750 words... Any feedback, positive or negative, will be appreciated!
Prompt: Johns Hopkins offers 50 majors across the schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering. On this supplement, we ask you to identify one or two that you might like to pursue here. Why did you choose the way you did? If you are undecided, why didn't you choose? (If any past courses or academic experiences influenced your decision, you may include them in your essay.)
Having lived in New Zealand for 8 years, I was excited to travel to the United States half a world away. This was the world which previously existed only in the news or in TV shows such as 'The Amazing Race' -- my favorite TV program -- and it was soon to be transformed into a reality! Even better, I was about to undertake a 10-day leadership course in the capital city of global economics: New York City.
My enthusiasm for economics has gradually grown since I was fourteen. My dad, who started his own import/export business not long after I was born, played a significant role in shaping my interests. Our house was often untidy, filled with papers titled "balance sheets" and "strategic plans", symbolizing my father's disorganization skills. He once told me to find one sheet of paper, with "Trading Balance" printed bold on top middle section, lying somewhere in the 300m2 area (the entire house). After 20 minutes of thorough search and rescue action, the familiar words "Trading Balance" was visible. It was familiar because I learnt it from grade 9 economics. Showing interest, I repeated the phrase "I learnt this from school!" three times, and he gave me the golden opportunity to make some trading decisions with his help. This was only the beginning. Completely unaware of exchange rates, I wondered how US dollars that my dad earned turned into my usable pocket money (in NZD).
Once the world of exchange rates bound me to it, there was no escape. Every time a question like "how does exchange rate affect inflation?" was answered through a myriad of Google searches, there were more questions yet to be answered, like "How does exchange rate affect the number of migrants?" It was like the multiplier effect: number of unanswered questions doubled the number of answered questions. Fascinated, I did not quit, but, day by day, I was more and more intrigued by the small 'pieces' of economics, such as interest rates and recession, that amalgamate to the greater economic reality.
I was then introduced to the People to People leadership summit program (P2P) in December 2008, the course that enabled me to pursue my interests. Visit to the Wall Street constructed an irrational feeling that I belong here in the future. Details in the Museum of American Financial History caught my attention to an extent that I nearly missed the bus back to our accommodation. The 'business project' that we had to complete required us to put the economic theories into practice. I believe that nothing compares to experience, and this 10-day leadership course at New York City has certainly confirmed me to choose economics as one of the subjects that I want to pursue in my tertiary studies.
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I enjoyed drawing maps. Strange as it sounds, drawing maps was one of my favorite hobbies in elementary school. During intervals and lunchtimes, when my schoolmates rushed out to the Sport's Cafï to get one of three soccer balls in school, I drew maps. Memory gauge increased extra 100% when it came down to inserting names of the streets around the school into my brain. This hobby carried on until the end of 8th grade, when I was about to enter high school. Going to high school also meant choosing subjects. One of the subjects that I chose, thinking that it would involve drawing maps, was geography.
My interest in geography was purely developed through my academic experience, thanks to my hobby of drawing maps when I was younger. As a Korean migrant in New Zealand, I enjoyed studying population and migration the most. Unfortunately, drawing maps was only a small part of IB* geography. The subject mostly involved memorizing real-life case studies -- not street names -- such as the landslide in Bangladesh, Kobe Earthquake in 1995, or pro-natalistic** policy in Singapore since 1989. Without a doubt, geography was the subject that I enjoyed the most while studying; natural or human, these real-life events fascinated me and made me want to research more about them. High marks I obtained in geography also acted as a motivator to study further. Needless to say, I wish to continue to enrich this interest and pursue it in my tertiary studies at Johns Hopkins.
In short, I chose economics and geography as two majors that I want to pursue at Johns Hopkins. My strong interests in both of these subjects are still active today and I hope to enrich them in the future. These interests in economics and geography, the pursuit of these interests and my determination to learn more about these two subjects confirm that I have selected the right majors to be studied at Johns Hopkins University.
*IB: International Baccalaureate - an education programme like AP.
**pro-natalistic: A government policy supporting increase in population.
Thank you all, late merry christmas and happy new year :)
After 20 minutes of thorough search and rescue action, the familiar words "Trading Balance" were visible.
A visit to the Wall Street constructed an irrational feeling that I belong here in the future.
The 'business project' that we had to complete required us to put the economic theories into practice. I believe that nothing compares to experience, and this 10-day leadership course in New York City has certainly solidified economics as one of the subjects that I want to pursue in my tertiary studies.
Hey Ahnsik, here are just a few grammatical errors I found. Oh, and which of your two responses do you like better?
Use a comma:
Having lived in New Zealand for eight years, I was excited to travel to the United States, half a world away. --> this is confusing. Do you mean you moved when you were eight years old?
I think you need to add one more sentence to that first paragraph, right at the end. Let it be a thesis sentence about how this experience represents a milestone in your process of achieving your aspirations -- and an important part of that process will be your dual experience of econ and geography (and most importantly, empowerment) at JHU.
Let the end of that first paragraph announce the main idea of the whole essay.
