Hey guys, please have a read and leave a comment below! Thanks in advance! (I also want advice on how to conclude my essay. Right now, it just doesn't seem to fit)
Engineers turn ideas (technical, scientific, mathematical) into reality. Tell us about an engineering idea you have or your interest in engineering. Explain how Cornell Engineering can help you further explore this idea or interest.
The concept of olfaction was not familiar to me in my childhood. Due to my innate empyema, I found it difficult to respire through my nostrils, thus smell was one of the five senses that I had to relinquish. However, as the severity of empyema dwindled down and I have eventually been able to come in contact with smells, they opened up wonderlands in my imagination. I could obtain pleasure from things that I felt indifferent when my mom used to assert: "Oh, this flower smells lovely!".
My mom's definition of lovely is confined to only beautiful, pristine objects like flowers. Mine, unlike hers, includes many others that most people loathe: dirt on nails, old books, sweats on the palm, bottom-right corner of the pillow, burning matchsticks, gasoline stands and many others. To be honest, I had no clue of what sort of odor people normally perceive as likable at first. When I finally realized how my definition of 'lovely' so greatly deviated from that of other people, it was already too late to reconstruct my dictionary.
Once, I met a stranger online who claimed to be in love with the smell of ammonia. As I typed: 'Yuck! Why would you smell such thing?', I realized this is how people would have felt towards my own likings. This idea that individuals have remarkably diversified tastes has fascinated me. I am conscious that individuals may find comfort from objects that other people dislike, and that these odors may be much more effective than the typical perfumes and essences in the market today. Furthermore, people often derive memories when they are exposed to a particular odor, and so if we manage to fully understand the connection, we would be able to produce a perfume or food that will act not only as a decorating agent, but also as a means to reminisce their childhood: a sort of perfume and chocolate that goes beyond mechanic pleasure, that nobody would resist to have.
Upon realizing that I first need a place to build a set of fundamental knowledge, I had been actively searching for a suitable institution, and I found Cornell University. I was amused by the Cornell's commitment to liberal and theoretical studies with generous research opportunities, allowing students to apply conceptual learning from lectures to tackle the real-world problems. By doing so, I would be able to maximize my fondness for olfaction to really jump into the game and 'get my hands dirty'. Cornell's rigorous curriculum would ride me nonstop to challenge the limits that I have previously set myself, and to expand my knowledge to boundaries that were once deemed only gods could reach. As a person who could get easily enticed away, the university's rural location is perfect for me to keep my faith and march on without being driven off the track.
Although I do not specifically know what the four years of life in Cornell will have for me, I firmly believe that they will be memorable and invigorating, and that Cornell will be one vital medium that would define who I really am.
Engineers turn ideas (technical, scientific, mathematical) into reality. Tell us about an engineering idea you have or your interest in engineering. Explain how Cornell Engineering can help you further explore this idea or interest.
The concept of olfaction was not familiar to me in my childhood. Due to my innate empyema, I found it difficult to respire through my nostrils, thus smell was one of the five senses that I had to relinquish. However, as the severity of empyema dwindled down and I have eventually been able to come in contact with smells, they opened up wonderlands in my imagination. I could obtain pleasure from things that I felt indifferent when my mom used to assert: "Oh, this flower smells lovely!".
My mom's definition of lovely is confined to only beautiful, pristine objects like flowers. Mine, unlike hers, includes many others that most people loathe: dirt on nails, old books, sweats on the palm, bottom-right corner of the pillow, burning matchsticks, gasoline stands and many others. To be honest, I had no clue of what sort of odor people normally perceive as likable at first. When I finally realized how my definition of 'lovely' so greatly deviated from that of other people, it was already too late to reconstruct my dictionary.
Once, I met a stranger online who claimed to be in love with the smell of ammonia. As I typed: 'Yuck! Why would you smell such thing?', I realized this is how people would have felt towards my own likings. This idea that individuals have remarkably diversified tastes has fascinated me. I am conscious that individuals may find comfort from objects that other people dislike, and that these odors may be much more effective than the typical perfumes and essences in the market today. Furthermore, people often derive memories when they are exposed to a particular odor, and so if we manage to fully understand the connection, we would be able to produce a perfume or food that will act not only as a decorating agent, but also as a means to reminisce their childhood: a sort of perfume and chocolate that goes beyond mechanic pleasure, that nobody would resist to have.
Upon realizing that I first need a place to build a set of fundamental knowledge, I had been actively searching for a suitable institution, and I found Cornell University. I was amused by the Cornell's commitment to liberal and theoretical studies with generous research opportunities, allowing students to apply conceptual learning from lectures to tackle the real-world problems. By doing so, I would be able to maximize my fondness for olfaction to really jump into the game and 'get my hands dirty'. Cornell's rigorous curriculum would ride me nonstop to challenge the limits that I have previously set myself, and to expand my knowledge to boundaries that were once deemed only gods could reach. As a person who could get easily enticed away, the university's rural location is perfect for me to keep my faith and march on without being driven off the track.
Although I do not specifically know what the four years of life in Cornell will have for me, I firmly believe that they will be memorable and invigorating, and that Cornell will be one vital medium that would define who I really am.
