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Describe an experience of cultural difference, positive or negative, you have had or observed. What did you learn from it? (250-500 words)
You may define culture broadly. For example, it may include ethnicity, customs, values, and ideas, all of which contribute to experiences that students can share with others in college. As you reply to this question, reflect on what you have learned -- about yourself and society -- from an experience of cultural difference.
My bare hands dug through the heap of garbage, through ketchup-stained paper trays, assorted plastics, and empty milk cartons, removing things that did not belong. Out went the paper trays, headed to the compost pile. Milk cartons and hard plastic containers flew through the air, destined for the recycling. During my school lunches, the garbage bin always ends up more than half-full with compost and recycling and the compost bins usually get a dash of garbage. It is my job to sort through those bins and take the recycling and compost out to the dumpsters. I do this because I care about the environment; I want to keep waste out of landfills and in turn keep greenhouse gasses out of the air (compostable materials release methane when decaying in a landfill) while helping to provide my community with compost-derived fertilizer and material to create recycled products. However, not all the students at my high school feel the same way. Instead of carefully sorting their waste, some students dump all of it into either the trash or the compost bin. Despite my best attempts at demonstrating how easy properly disposing of waste is and explaining the benefits of doing so, many still seem to value leaving the cafeteria quickly more than preserving the environmental health of the world they live in.
This difference in values, between my concern and others' disregard for environmental issues, was at first quite shocking to me. Coming from a largely homogeneous white, middle-class community, I didn't expect people who are otherwise so similar to think so differently about such a pressing issue. I came to learn that for any issue there will be always be some people who are apathetic to your cause, but you just have to work around them. Not everybody is going to care about the same issues as I do to the extent I do, so if I want something to get done, I have to do it myself. I want to see a reduction in the amount of pollution the world produces and a cleaner, healthier Earth, so I compost and recycle. My experience with composting and recycling has helped influence me into wanting to start my own environmental technology business. I don't yet know if that business will provide composting services, clean energy, or something else, but I do know that it, and I, will make a difference in the world. Someone has to.
(404 words)
Describe an experience of cultural difference, positive or negative, you have had or observed. What did you learn from it? (250-500 words)
You may define culture broadly. For example, it may include ethnicity, customs, values, and ideas, all of which contribute to experiences that students can share with others in college. As you reply to this question, reflect on what you have learned -- about yourself and society -- from an experience of cultural difference.
My bare hands dug through the heap of garbage, through ketchup-stained paper trays, assorted plastics, and empty milk cartons, removing things that did not belong. Out went the paper trays, headed to the compost pile. Milk cartons and hard plastic containers flew through the air, destined for the recycling. During my school lunches, the garbage bin always ends up more than half-full with compost and recycling and the compost bins usually get a dash of garbage. It is my job to sort through those bins and take the recycling and compost out to the dumpsters. I do this because I care about the environment; I want to keep waste out of landfills and in turn keep greenhouse gasses out of the air (compostable materials release methane when decaying in a landfill) while helping to provide my community with compost-derived fertilizer and material to create recycled products. However, not all the students at my high school feel the same way. Instead of carefully sorting their waste, some students dump all of it into either the trash or the compost bin. Despite my best attempts at demonstrating how easy properly disposing of waste is and explaining the benefits of doing so, many still seem to value leaving the cafeteria quickly more than preserving the environmental health of the world they live in.
This difference in values, between my concern and others' disregard for environmental issues, was at first quite shocking to me. Coming from a largely homogeneous white, middle-class community, I didn't expect people who are otherwise so similar to think so differently about such a pressing issue. I came to learn that for any issue there will be always be some people who are apathetic to your cause, but you just have to work around them. Not everybody is going to care about the same issues as I do to the extent I do, so if I want something to get done, I have to do it myself. I want to see a reduction in the amount of pollution the world produces and a cleaner, healthier Earth, so I compost and recycle. My experience with composting and recycling has helped influence me into wanting to start my own environmental technology business. I don't yet know if that business will provide composting services, clean energy, or something else, but I do know that it, and I, will make a difference in the world. Someone has to.
(404 words)
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