This is a rough draft. Any input would be helpful. Is it too short? The last paragraph at the end is something I don't know if I should add. Should I add it? The question doesn't ask to name specific qualities about JHU that we like, just why we chose the major that we did but I figure it wouldn't hurt...I would add it before the last paragraph.
In eighth grade, my friend Alex told me her life plan. After graduating in the top 25% of her class, she was to attend George Washington University, and then law school to become a lawyer. I sat there, bemused. She was thirteen - I was twelve - and she already had her ten-year plan. "Really?" I asked her. "Do you think that's really going to happen?" She nodded seriously, completely confident.
Admittedly, I was jealous of Alex, jealous that she knew exactly what she wanted to do and how she wanted to go about it. But not now. I put "undecided" as my major because, yes, I don't know what I want to major in. But more importantly, I'm still a child. By labeling myself as an intended economics or anthropology or romance language major, I'd be locking myself in a box. I'd be stunting my own growth, and while it's highly unlikely I'll ever be eye to eye with Shaquille O'Neal without standing on an apple box, I have yet to fully mature. If I walk onto campus/name some gate with a specific preconception of what I'm supposed to do or act like, I'll only be selling myself short of a true college experience. No, I'd much rather embrace the unknown and unearth and cultivate more of myself as an undergraduate. Besides, isn't that what college is about? Digging up more of yourself? I look at college - or rather, I hope college is a time of self-discovery. During the next four years, I desire to connect with new people, diversify myself through education and experience, and attain a deeper sense of who I am and what I'm capable of.
High school was a time when I took classes that school required and attained what I think is my identity. But I know there is so much more of me yet to be found, so much more to see, hear, and do. College will be a time when I take the classes I want to take, and gain a truer sense of myself. Come September, I'll leave Millburn, undecided in my major, but decidedly open to the unknown.
That's not to say I lack any sense of myself or don't have any interests or passions. I love to read, write, discuss, and play music. But, I'm not chaining myself to those subjects. And the lack of a core curriculum at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences allows for me to explore without restraint the multiple majors and minors it carries, as well as the extensive research opportunities.
In eighth grade, my friend Alex told me her life plan. After graduating in the top 25% of her class, she was to attend George Washington University, and then law school to become a lawyer. I sat there, bemused. She was thirteen - I was twelve - and she already had her ten-year plan. "Really?" I asked her. "Do you think that's really going to happen?" She nodded seriously, completely confident.
Admittedly, I was jealous of Alex, jealous that she knew exactly what she wanted to do and how she wanted to go about it. But not now. I put "undecided" as my major because, yes, I don't know what I want to major in. But more importantly, I'm still a child. By labeling myself as an intended economics or anthropology or romance language major, I'd be locking myself in a box. I'd be stunting my own growth, and while it's highly unlikely I'll ever be eye to eye with Shaquille O'Neal without standing on an apple box, I have yet to fully mature. If I walk onto campus/name some gate with a specific preconception of what I'm supposed to do or act like, I'll only be selling myself short of a true college experience. No, I'd much rather embrace the unknown and unearth and cultivate more of myself as an undergraduate. Besides, isn't that what college is about? Digging up more of yourself? I look at college - or rather, I hope college is a time of self-discovery. During the next four years, I desire to connect with new people, diversify myself through education and experience, and attain a deeper sense of who I am and what I'm capable of.
High school was a time when I took classes that school required and attained what I think is my identity. But I know there is so much more of me yet to be found, so much more to see, hear, and do. College will be a time when I take the classes I want to take, and gain a truer sense of myself. Come September, I'll leave Millburn, undecided in my major, but decidedly open to the unknown.
That's not to say I lack any sense of myself or don't have any interests or passions. I love to read, write, discuss, and play music. But, I'm not chaining myself to those subjects. And the lack of a core curriculum at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences allows for me to explore without restraint the multiple majors and minors it carries, as well as the extensive research opportunities.
