WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU? WHY? (UBC but can be used in other university/scholarship applications)

WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU? WHY?

"The only source of knowledge is experience." This quote from Albert Einstein sums up my philosophy of learning as a student, which has been so important to me as it has shaped my confidence as a knower. COVID-19 virtual school wasn't stimulating my mind like in real life, and it made me realize I had to continue my education beyond the four walls of school. Education could no longer be defined as homework sheets and tests for me; but rather the drive for learning from my initiative. I pursued higher academic interests not taught at my school, such as computer science and took a neuroscience internship at the University of Toronto.

Despite the apprehension of my initial limited knowledge, I continued building my repertoire of experiences, which helped expand my insight. It was not always the academic material from which I obtained the most knowledge, but rather the courage I gained for asking questions and seeking answers to complex queries. I remember after my first year, I took over the robotics club after all members of the club graduated. I felt extremely unprepared to lead the club with my experience but I wanted to take it as an opportunity to learn. Eventually, we got into the top ten teams of our tournament- completely unheard of for our rural school. Before, I feared failure from seeking new knowledge. However, I realized that while it seems peculiar to be proud of "failure," it enabled me to take risks, embrace all results, and live a life unfettered from doubts.

I believe that you have over philosophized your response to the point where it lost its logic and common sense references. In fact, using the Albert Einstein quote is where the problems with your response started. Remember that when Albert Einstein was quoted as saying this, he had already lived a lifetime of experience, which directly indicates the clarity of his thought.

You have not lived enough experiences in this lifetime to make the reviewer believe that knowledge gained by a lifetime of experience is what is important to you. I would not advice that you continue using this response. It is over reaching and, your explanation asks the reviewer to suspend his disbelief of what you are sharing in this statement. Even if he does that, your response does not solidly deliver a believable response.

What is believable to you? Consider your personal code of ethics, your personal code of conduct, your family, your friends, your ability to empathize, these are some acceptable response topics that you can use. These will not ask the reviewer to believe something that he will find questionable based on the basis of the response topic.

Your response should actually be:
What is important to you? Education
Why: Education builds my insight into the world around me, regardless of whether it is learned in the classroom, virtually, or through life experiences.

I've given you an idea of how to refocus your response for clarity and believability. It is up to you to expand and improve, or totally change your response based upon this suggestion.