Hi again!
I'd appreciate your help in looking at this. Thanks loads!
Short Essay (1 or 2 paragraphs)
How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to Chicago.
Most importantly, I am looking for an intellectually stimulating environment, one which Chicago definitely provides. Additionally, Chicago fits in with my interests, that of pursuing a degree in Economics because Chicago is well established with arguably the best economics faculty, having numerous Economics Nobel Laureates within the faculty. While I am deeply interested in economics, I wish to explore other areas in academia as well. Chicago's Common Core provides this suitable platform for me to have an all-round education. Furthermore, Chicago's Socratic method of teaching in small class sizes allows me to reach my academic potentially through close interaction with the professors and peers. I believe that having a close interaction with professors would steeply enhance the level of teaching and learning. Finally, the interdisciplinary approach towards learning would allow me to understand the relationship between subjects and complexities in life. Therefore, I am confident that a Chicago education will able to prepare me well as a global citizen for the challenging and uncertain environment in the 21st Century.
Chicago's strong emphasis on leadership and community involvement resonates with my personal believes as well. I believe that servant leadership is a key feature of any society and is crucial in bridging social segregation amongst communities. Serving the community is meaningful and fulfilling, and should worth promoting. I hope to hone my leadership and nurture my character further in Chicago and give back to society in future within my capacity. Just as Chicago's motto "Crescat sciential vita excolatur" (Let knowledge grow from more to more; and so be human life enriched) goes, it is my hope that my education in Chicago would allow me to develop greater maturity of thought and in turn I hope to apply my knowledge by formulating sound socio-economic policies to benefit my nation in future by enriching lives of many people. With the top-notch holistic education in Chicago, I am confident that my desires and wishes will come true.
Extended Essay (1 or 2 pages)
The short film Powers of Ten begins with an aerial shot of a couple picnicking in a Chicago park. The camera zooms out ten meters. It then zooms out again, but the degree of the zoom has increased by a power of ten; the camera is now 100 meters away. It continues to 1,000 meters, then 10,000, and so on, traveling through the solar system, the galaxy, and eventually to the edge of the known universe. Here the camera rests, allowing us to examine the vast nothingness of the universe, black void punctuated sparsely by galaxies so far away they appear as small stars. The narrator comments, "This emptiness is normal. The richness of our own neighborhood is the exception." Then the camera reverses its journey, zooming in to the picnic, and - in negative powers of ten - to the man's hand, the cells in his hand, the molecules of DNA within, their atoms, and then the nucleus both "so massive and so small" in the "vast inner space" of the atom. Zoom in and out on a person, place, event, or subject of interest. What becomes clear from far away that you can't see up close? What intricate structures appear when you move closer? How is the big view related to the small, the emptiness to the richness?
My holiday trip to the Entabeni Safari Conservatory in the Limpopo province of South Africa gave me insight into the contrast between zoomed in (micro) and zoomed out (macro) perspectives.
One morning when I was on a morning game drive, I peered far into the safari grounds from the Land Cruiser. From an elevated ground of two hundred metres, I witnessed that the Savannah grassland was devoid of life. The stern looking mountains stood still, flanking the two far ends of the motionless grassland. No visible sign of animal life was seen. Even the grasses looked as though they had experienced a persistent drought, so dry that they were crisp. This was the result of the clear skies providing the sun with opportunity to beat down mercilessly upon the Savannah grassland. The sight of vast emptiness completely opposed my imagination and fell short of my expectations of witnessing a vibrant thriving ecosystem.
As the Land Cruise moved onto the Safari grounds, I turned my attention to the micro view instead with my handy binoculars. The binoculars presented me with an entirely different world. It zoomed into the biological system so vividly that I instantly noticed and recognised tremendous indications of life. I spotted the animals. At the far end of the horizon, deers playfully ran after each other. At another end, a bunch of rhinoceros' could be seen savouring on green grasses scattered amongst the dried ones. A hundred to probably a thousand variants of plants were seen to be thriving under the long "arms" of the Savannah grasses. Wild cacti grew and flourished with "flowers" amidst the partially sandy and warm environment.
Zooming in on my binoculars further, millipedes and fire ants showed up in front of me. As it was the warm season, the insects were frantically working themselves away, gathering stockpiles of food for winter. Here I witnessed the spirit of teamwork amongst the ants, where 10-20 ants carried away decomposing small animals for the survival of their very own community. A closer investigation showed mimosa plants closing and reopening each time an animal brushed past their delicate leaves. Freshly dug holes in the sand accompanied by other surface sand movements indicated that life thrived beneath the surface. This micro view gave me another perspective of the Savannah, one that is filled with tiny energetic life forms.
Reflecting upon such a sight, I realise that within apparent emptiness, subtle richness may be found. We have to look at things carefully in detail. Superficial glances may cause us to miss out on crucial details. If we put in the effort to analyse, we could make fascinating discoveries. Emptiness and richness do not necessarily have to be mutually exclusive; they do in fact coexist in the same habitat. In the case of Entabeni, the unattractive macro view imperceptibly masked the beauty of the smaller view. A lesson learnt would be not relying on first impressions to judge any person or place. The true beauty of a person or place may only be revealed with patient interaction and observation.
Yes, they do indeed hold my interest! That is hard to do with this sort of writing.
This was the result of the clear skies providing the sun with opportunity to beat down mercilessly upon the Savannah grassland. The sight of vast emptiness contrasted disappointingly against what I had imagined it would be and fell short of my expectations for the experience of witnessing a vibrant thriving ecosystem.
Add a comma here:
With the top-notch, holistic education in Chicago, I am confident that my desires and wishes will come true.
