This is my Brown extended essay! Feel free to comment/revise/critique! thanks! i appreciate it! oh and my apologies for my over use of questions. After all, the prompt says "What don't you know?" :D
I attempted to structure my essay in a way that follows me through a typical day in my life. Feel free to comment on this as well!
In 500 words or less:
French novelist Anatole France wrote: "An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't." What don't you know?
Even in the 21st century, with all the modern technology surrounding us, there is still much to learn, comprehend, and even discover. After twelve years of schooling, the knowledge acquired may seem substantial. However, this knowledge is only minimal. The knowledge attained within the first twelve years of schooling is only scraping the surface of what's left unlearned.
Every morning, I turn on Fox news while I eat breakfast to catch up on the day's headlines. It seems to happen every day. Whether it's the health segment, technology segment, or the strange news segment, there is always something new being shared on television. For example, I remember I was eating breakfast with my mom and the news was talking about the bad effects coffee has on the body. A couple days later, they reveal how alcohol has good effects for the body. Rather strange, indeed, but it establishes how much the world doesn't know. I want to know why. Why is coffee sometimes bad? Why is out of all drinks, alcohol, sometimes good for the body?
It doesn't stop here. Every afternoon during the school day, around 11:30 a.m., I have lunch; the period of the day where students have the opportunity to break away from the learning environment. To me, it's the opposite. Since I have my A.P. Psychology class right before, sometimes I remain in that mood, and observe human behavior. This has to be the perfect hour to observe because you have the dramatic couple fighting over their issues, the smart kid who utilizes time wisely to finish their homework, and the random kid asking people, table to table, for some lunch money. Why is the couple fighting in public? Why is the smart kid cramming to finish their homework before the period ends? Why is the random kid asking for money? Maybe he has financial problems at home? Or it could be that he got into an argument with his mother that morning and refused to give him money. These questions are observed, but are left unanswered.
At last, it's 7 p.m., and my homework is complete, and I expect that I will turn off my brain tonight. I decide to go on the popular website Facebook and someone posts, "Why does the toilet flush counter-clockwise?" Then, I reply sounding smart, "it's the Coriolis Effect, dude." However, that's all I know. I do a simple search on Google, and I'm revealed that it's a common misconception that the toilet flushes differently in the northern and southern hemispheres. The Coriolis Effect is more than just toilet flushing; it's a more physics and math-based phenomena. How can it be observed? Why is the effect different in the north and in the south?
I don't know is where life will take me after college. Whether it's becoming a doctor, or doing scientific research at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, I know one thing. I will continue my education, in effort to answer the questions the world will have.
word count: 498
I attempted to structure my essay in a way that follows me through a typical day in my life. Feel free to comment on this as well!
In 500 words or less:
French novelist Anatole France wrote: "An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't." What don't you know?
Even in the 21st century, with all the modern technology surrounding us, there is still much to learn, comprehend, and even discover. After twelve years of schooling, the knowledge acquired may seem substantial. However, this knowledge is only minimal. The knowledge attained within the first twelve years of schooling is only scraping the surface of what's left unlearned.
Every morning, I turn on Fox news while I eat breakfast to catch up on the day's headlines. It seems to happen every day. Whether it's the health segment, technology segment, or the strange news segment, there is always something new being shared on television. For example, I remember I was eating breakfast with my mom and the news was talking about the bad effects coffee has on the body. A couple days later, they reveal how alcohol has good effects for the body. Rather strange, indeed, but it establishes how much the world doesn't know. I want to know why. Why is coffee sometimes bad? Why is out of all drinks, alcohol, sometimes good for the body?
It doesn't stop here. Every afternoon during the school day, around 11:30 a.m., I have lunch; the period of the day where students have the opportunity to break away from the learning environment. To me, it's the opposite. Since I have my A.P. Psychology class right before, sometimes I remain in that mood, and observe human behavior. This has to be the perfect hour to observe because you have the dramatic couple fighting over their issues, the smart kid who utilizes time wisely to finish their homework, and the random kid asking people, table to table, for some lunch money. Why is the couple fighting in public? Why is the smart kid cramming to finish their homework before the period ends? Why is the random kid asking for money? Maybe he has financial problems at home? Or it could be that he got into an argument with his mother that morning and refused to give him money. These questions are observed, but are left unanswered.
At last, it's 7 p.m., and my homework is complete, and I expect that I will turn off my brain tonight. I decide to go on the popular website Facebook and someone posts, "Why does the toilet flush counter-clockwise?" Then, I reply sounding smart, "it's the Coriolis Effect, dude." However, that's all I know. I do a simple search on Google, and I'm revealed that it's a common misconception that the toilet flushes differently in the northern and southern hemispheres. The Coriolis Effect is more than just toilet flushing; it's a more physics and math-based phenomena. How can it be observed? Why is the effect different in the north and in the south?
I don't know is where life will take me after college. Whether it's becoming a doctor, or doing scientific research at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, I know one thing. I will continue my education, in effort to answer the questions the world will have.
word count: 498