College of Arts and Sciences:
Describe your intellectual interests, their evolution, and what makes them exciting to you. Tell us how you will utilize the academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences to further explore your interests, intended major, or field of study.
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While my intellectual interests are very diverse, music has always had a place in my life. As a young child, I was surrounded by the music of composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Vivaldi. I started private lessons at the age of four, learning the fundamentals of ear training and music theory. My perfect pitch has always been my biggest advantage as I studied violin, viola, guitar, piano and voice.
By the time I was twelve, I was accepted into the orchestra at Rollins College in Florida for violin. I played as third chair in the South Carolina Youth Philharmonic Orchestra for the upper high school level when I was thirteen. My experiences with violin and viola as first chair in my school orchestra enabled me to quickly learn guitar. My private teachers encouraged me to play outside of the practice room, giving me experience performing guitar for other people in small gigs and in the church worship band.
Having taken piano lessons for ten years with one of the best and most professional piano teachers available, I quickly excelled in the piano auditions, festivals, and competitions. I earned the highest ratings in all of them, and was invited to several Honors Recitals and State competitions. At my school, I played as an accompanist for my school choir. In addition to these activities, I also volenteered giving piano lessons, became a member of Tri-M Honors Society, and played piano at nursing homes, church, and other opportunities. During the summer I attended music camps at Furman University and Bob Jones University.
I took private voice lessons for two years with Thomas J. Brunson, Jr and then studied Voice at the Fine Arts Center under Karen Parks. In addition to singing in my school choir, I also participated in NATS competition in 9th grade, receiving the rating of "Superior". Taking AP Music Theory and joining the FAC Music Composer's Society also contributed to my education. All of my experience with previous instruments came together as I learned Voice, giving me a unique, diverse and well-rounded outlook on my work.
Music has always been a part of me, and I cannot imagine life without it. There is something in music that makes it different from the other arts - music most clearly manipulates the emotions and causes the listener to wonder, think, cry, laugh. It heals the soul and lifts the spirit when nothing else can. Music expresses what words cannot, and the joy of creating such beauty is award enough in itself. Through all the difficult times in my life, music has helped me stand strong and be confident in my talent.
Obviously, the evolution of my experience has taken a long time to accumulate and has been effected by many different aspects, but it has transformed my work as a vocalist into something more profound and sophisticated. I intend to earn my Doctorate after undergraduate school and I would like to attend the best music schools the world has to offer. I plan to utilize the academic programs at the College of Arts and Sciences by taking classes not only in performance, music history and music theory but also in communications and business as I believe these are vital to surviving in the music industry. I firmly believe that Cornell can help me accomplish my goals and that I will be able to benefit the campus due to my hard work, determination, ability to handle and excell in several tasks at the same time, and accomplishments that I intend to achieve during and after my undergraduate studies.
Here are some "extra" words that I think you should cut:
Having taken piano lessons for ten years with one of the best and most professional piano teachers available, I quickly...
Music has always been a part of me, and I cannot imagine life without it. --- a little bit cliche.
music most clearly manipulates the emotions and causes the listener to wonder, think, cry, laugh. ---- I don't know... more than cinema? Cinema combines music with many other art forms.
Well, I think you write well and that you can do a better job of expressing why music is so meaningful. I don't think you need to compare it to other arts. Come up with your own reason for music's significance.
Obviously, the evolution of my experience has taken a long time to accumulate --- this has to be rewritten, because evolution can't accumulate. Let's simplify that...
This is impressive; I think you can condense the informative parts that tell about your accomplishments.. condense them and make them take up half the space they take up now. Also, how about adding a little about your plans for the future. You wrote a lot about the "evolution" of your interests, but how about "how you will utilize the programs..."
:-)
