There's a difference between being busy and being engaged.
Lafayette comes alive each day with the energy of students who are deeply engaged in their academic, co-curricular and extracurricular explorations. In response to the prompt below, keep it simple - choose one activity and add depth to our understanding of your involvement. What do you do? Why do you do it? (20-200 words)
(I haven't shortened mine to 200 yet, it's 342 as of now)
I have been drawn to films for nearly as long as I can remember. As a child, I used to be enamoured by the vibrant colours of Monsters University and the immersive sound effects of The Avengers. As I grew older, ever captivated by cinema, I started fiding a much larger significance in movies than entertainment.
Eventually, I realized that movies are a reflection of our reality - a testament to the vast, complex, and exciting world we live in. I stopped viewing movie characters as fictional, but living, breathing people. Hence, I learn realms about psychology, human connection, and its impact when I see Charlie writing anonymous letters in The Perks of Being a Wallflower or Ved being nonsensical in Tamasha. Further, protagonists with peculiar or similar intellectual curiosities as mine particularly intrigue me, as I can trace their journeys to understand where his/her ideologies lead him/her, or how he/she build upon them. I study their experiences and learnings so I can subsequently apply them to my own life.
Moreover, characters often perform menial activities in films which eventually prove to be incredibly meaningful in their story. This helps me give meaning to my own tasks and makes me appreciate the tasks and the people in my life. I now find myself enthralled to engage in more activities.
My enamour with motion pictures aligns with my interest in behavioural psychology. I am determined to understand human nature and the origins of people's mindsets. In the same light, I wish to explore minors in Psychology and Philosophy at Lafayette College. Such academic pursuits would enhance my toolset for understanding people, and in turn, enable me to analyse movie characters more deeply. As a young Sikh, I have been subject to frequent ridicule for my turban. In my adolescence, those experiences have manifested in me a strong sense of compassion and regard for a nurturing environment. Hence, through my minor studies and passion to decode human behaviour, I ultimately aspire to maintain a positive and enriching environment for those around me.