Hey all! my delaware honors essay is due in a few days and needs some serious critique. pls tell me if it answers the prompt and what i can do to improve it. thank you in advance
A University of Delaware education is more than the sum of its parts. Over one-third of Delaware students double major or pursue a major with multiple minors. All students participate in discovery learning - from study abroad to undergraduate research to service-learning. Honors students are especially inclined to be interdisciplinary, creative, or entrepreneurial. Tell us about your unique combination of interests and how you hope to apply them to your Honors experience at UD.
1/0= MATH ERROR. Either my calculator was broken or my fingers keyed in the wrong numbers. Giving the calculator a gentle flick, I tried again; "One divided by zero" I mouthed under my breath as my fingers carefully and accordingly pressed the keys. Same response: MATH ERROR. Peering at my calculator screen, checking for cracks and even holding it up to the light, I tried again and again and again: something had to be wrong; one was not divisible by zero. Why? I sought to find out. As I pored over books, consulted my teachers, and engaged in insightful and thoughtful debates with my peers, I found myself not only engrossed by the different ideas, thoughts, and opinions that I came across, but also with the research process. It was, in essence, my growing interest in research, which set the stage for my next research project with the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF).
It was during my stint as a junior researcher with AMREF, and under the guidance of the senior researchers, that I came across the idea of community- based health insurance. This, I learned, was a form of insurance that encouraged members within communities to pool resources, in financing their health care. By doing so, poor community members were able to enjoy medical benefits by working together as a group. Despite the success of community- based health insurance, hospitals, particularly rural ones, were not in a state to service their patients, partially due to the constant power blackouts. During my research, I was beyond appalled by the number of cases where power went out during surgical operations. This was ironic given that in Sub Saharan Africa, a region in which I have lived my entire life, the sun shone virtually all year round, yet its energy was not harnessed to provide cost free energy. That people still relied on traditional fuels charcoal, firewood, and cow dung that produced noxious carbon monoxide fumes on combustion, was immensely disquieting to me; more so that my grandmother was one of these people. So grew my interest in chemical engineering, specifically in regards to the development of alternative energy sources.
As I delved deeper into my research, I realized that it was not so much the lack of energy harnessing technologies, as it was the affordability of them that limited people from utilizing solar energy. I felt compelled to brainstorm solutions to this dilemma. If community members could collectively meet their medical costs then surely the same could be applied in meeting the costs of clean, reliable, alternative energy technologies. By doing so, I believe that communities will have taken a step in the right direction. The development of financing mechanisms to reach these communities is an area of interest that I am immensely determined to pursue in addition to my passion to study chemical engineering. Therefore, I believe that majoring in Chemical Engineering and minoring in Economics and/or Finance, as part of the Honors program at UD, will not only push me to explore more academically, but also enable me to attain knowledge that I can use to achieve my goals.
For me, the Honors program is a unique opportunity to be a part of an immensely stimulating community. I want to push myself further, academically, to reach heights that I've never reached before. In doing so, I hope to offer the world the very best of everything I have to give; UD's honor program can help me accomplish this. I yearn to not only talk to, discuss ideas with, and draw inspiration from the spirited professors and students on campus, but also share in my experiences, particularly in regards to the numerous problems that I have personally witnessed people living in Africa, struggle through. I look forward to working within the walls of University of Delaware Energy Institute (DEI) and under the guidance of people such as Assistant Professor Juejun Hu, who just kicked off a research project to create a coating on solar cells that will increase solar energy absorption. But above all, I hope to use my interest in research, engineering, and economics to contribute as much as I can, to the Engineers Without Borders program at UD. What would be the purpose of utilizing the opportunities that the Honors program has to offer if not to the betterment of society? I believe that to craft solutions to global problems, one has to target the grass roots, that is, to talk to and interact with the people who are affected by the problem. Therefore, I can hardly wait to merge the invaluable knowledge I can gain from being a part of the Honors program with the knowledge I gain from interacting with people afflicted by different problems. In doing so, I know that I will have used my combination of interests in research, engineering, and economics, and applied them in a way that can engender a positive change for someone out there in the world.
A University of Delaware education is more than the sum of its parts. Over one-third of Delaware students double major or pursue a major with multiple minors. All students participate in discovery learning - from study abroad to undergraduate research to service-learning. Honors students are especially inclined to be interdisciplinary, creative, or entrepreneurial. Tell us about your unique combination of interests and how you hope to apply them to your Honors experience at UD.
1/0= MATH ERROR. Either my calculator was broken or my fingers keyed in the wrong numbers. Giving the calculator a gentle flick, I tried again; "One divided by zero" I mouthed under my breath as my fingers carefully and accordingly pressed the keys. Same response: MATH ERROR. Peering at my calculator screen, checking for cracks and even holding it up to the light, I tried again and again and again: something had to be wrong; one was not divisible by zero. Why? I sought to find out. As I pored over books, consulted my teachers, and engaged in insightful and thoughtful debates with my peers, I found myself not only engrossed by the different ideas, thoughts, and opinions that I came across, but also with the research process. It was, in essence, my growing interest in research, which set the stage for my next research project with the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF).
It was during my stint as a junior researcher with AMREF, and under the guidance of the senior researchers, that I came across the idea of community- based health insurance. This, I learned, was a form of insurance that encouraged members within communities to pool resources, in financing their health care. By doing so, poor community members were able to enjoy medical benefits by working together as a group. Despite the success of community- based health insurance, hospitals, particularly rural ones, were not in a state to service their patients, partially due to the constant power blackouts. During my research, I was beyond appalled by the number of cases where power went out during surgical operations. This was ironic given that in Sub Saharan Africa, a region in which I have lived my entire life, the sun shone virtually all year round, yet its energy was not harnessed to provide cost free energy. That people still relied on traditional fuels charcoal, firewood, and cow dung that produced noxious carbon monoxide fumes on combustion, was immensely disquieting to me; more so that my grandmother was one of these people. So grew my interest in chemical engineering, specifically in regards to the development of alternative energy sources.
As I delved deeper into my research, I realized that it was not so much the lack of energy harnessing technologies, as it was the affordability of them that limited people from utilizing solar energy. I felt compelled to brainstorm solutions to this dilemma. If community members could collectively meet their medical costs then surely the same could be applied in meeting the costs of clean, reliable, alternative energy technologies. By doing so, I believe that communities will have taken a step in the right direction. The development of financing mechanisms to reach these communities is an area of interest that I am immensely determined to pursue in addition to my passion to study chemical engineering. Therefore, I believe that majoring in Chemical Engineering and minoring in Economics and/or Finance, as part of the Honors program at UD, will not only push me to explore more academically, but also enable me to attain knowledge that I can use to achieve my goals.
For me, the Honors program is a unique opportunity to be a part of an immensely stimulating community. I want to push myself further, academically, to reach heights that I've never reached before. In doing so, I hope to offer the world the very best of everything I have to give; UD's honor program can help me accomplish this. I yearn to not only talk to, discuss ideas with, and draw inspiration from the spirited professors and students on campus, but also share in my experiences, particularly in regards to the numerous problems that I have personally witnessed people living in Africa, struggle through. I look forward to working within the walls of University of Delaware Energy Institute (DEI) and under the guidance of people such as Assistant Professor Juejun Hu, who just kicked off a research project to create a coating on solar cells that will increase solar energy absorption. But above all, I hope to use my interest in research, engineering, and economics to contribute as much as I can, to the Engineers Without Borders program at UD. What would be the purpose of utilizing the opportunities that the Honors program has to offer if not to the betterment of society? I believe that to craft solutions to global problems, one has to target the grass roots, that is, to talk to and interact with the people who are affected by the problem. Therefore, I can hardly wait to merge the invaluable knowledge I can gain from being a part of the Honors program with the knowledge I gain from interacting with people afflicted by different problems. In doing so, I know that I will have used my combination of interests in research, engineering, and economics, and applied them in a way that can engender a positive change for someone out there in the world.
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