Fun and Rigorous Education
In any conversation about Northwestern, the collaborative environment never fails to come up. This environment and the seemingly endless opportunities offered by the McCormick School of Engineering are a large part of what has kept my attention drawn to Northwestern.
One of the opportunities that I am especially excited to be able to take advantage if I end up at Northwestern is the Co-op Program. I want to be a biomedical engineer when I grow up, and I can't think of a better way to prepare for a career in that field than to gain work experience in that field as part of my education. Being near a big city would allow for countless opportunities in preparing for the "real world" and many different companies to have available to me, minus the pain of living right inside the city. I would love to be able to participate in such a well-respected program and to have the opportunity to work and collaborate with big companies on engineering-related projects.
I also have always wanted to study abroad as part of my college experience, and the Global Health Technologies program in Capetown is the ideal experience that I've had in mind for so long. I can't be around less fortunate people than myself without wanting to help them and in some way change their lives. To be able to meet and bond with people of Capetown while developing devices that could help save their lives would bring a sense of satisfaction that I can hardly imagine right now.
It's not just the educational aspects of Northwestern that have drawn me to it though. When I visited the campus, I felt so alive and I could just see myself living there. Our tour guide took us over to the park area by the lake, and in just the five minutes that we were out there, at least three people passed by us on either a run or a bike ride. One of the things I've promised myself is that when I go off to college, I'm going to continue exercising several times a week to both relieve stress and avoid the dreaded "freshman fifteen." I had been paying attention to the qualities of the gyms at the different schools I had visited, but when I came to Northwestern, I didn't even consider that, because what more stress-relieving environment to run in than a huge park right by a lake?
I was also struck by all the opportunities at Northwestern to continue pursuing my love of the arts. While I only play the flute, I have developed a passion for all the performing arts. When I was at Northwestern, my tour guide kept emphasizing the fact that students at Northwestern love to share their talents with each other, and I got really excited to know that there would always be some kind of performance that I could go watch my peers participate in. Then I realized that I would also have access to professional performances if I wanted, since I would be right outside the grand city of Chicago. I loved the fact that students are provided free transportation between the Evanston and Chicago campuses, so if I get to go to Northwestern, I will have the world at my fingertips.
Northwestern seems to be the perfect school in terms of balance between a rigorous academic education and a fun relaxing environment, and I think this balance is one of the most crucial things in a school to prevent burnout , but to still provide a world of possibilities to the students after graduation.