"The quality of Rice's academic life and the Residential College System are heavily influenced by the unique life experiences and cultural traditions each student brings. What perspective do you feel that you will contribute to life at Rice? (Most applicants are able to respond successfully in two to three double-spaced pages.)"
Does the following essay adequately answer the prompt?
If not, how could I modify it to do so?
I am an artist.
When I was seven years old, my parents moved from Russia to The United States in search of a better future. With my parents working, little understanding of English, and no way to connect with my peers, my life left a lot of spaces for my imagination to fill in. Pencil, pastels and paint unfolded on paper as imagined planets, creatures, and machines. Stories and descriptions of imagined worlds and their inhabitants consumed the pages of my sketchbook.Over time, art evolved from a past-time to a talent and devotion, remaining a central part of my life even among other tasks and activities.
However, art alone could not be the defining aspect of my childhood. Mathematics proved a complement to my frustration with language. Math was direct, governed by a straightforward set of rules, in comparison to the random and arbitrary tendencies of language. Throughout school, I would study English, Spanish, and French, but the universal language of math remained the same across all of them. Understanding a previously foreign concept brought a feeling of satisfaction, and with it, a desire for more.
As I entered high school and college began to approach, problems with language had long faded, replaced by an entirely different challenge. While I was committed to art, it seemed to offer little in terms of a future compared to more "serious" professions.The idylls and contentment of primary school were replaced with discussions of college majors and careers, and art classes were displaced by more science and mathematics.How was it, that over a few short years I was supposed to choose among a myriad of possibilities for a future, and decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life? At the time, art and mathematics in regards to a career appeared fundamentally incompatible. Two different paths with no in-betweens and nothing in common.
It was not until third period physics when all that changed. Beneath all the formulas and principles, physics presented a mind-blowing idea. The universe, from the ticking of clocks to the spinning of planets, could be summed up in a series of mathematical equations. At it's best, physics brought mathematics off the page and into the physical world. In building cannons, catapults, and boats, third period physics forced me to take all the knowledge I have accumulated and apply it to real tasks and challenges. But what was even more fascinating was the amount of creativity that was offered. For each given task, there could be an infinite number of approaches. Working as a member of the Cryptonite robotics team took this to the next level, combining mathematics, materials, and ingenuity to construct a robot to compete against over two thousand other teams across the United States.
I am an artist, and though I seldom pick up a canvas or brush, I have found my artistic fulfillment elsewhere. To me, engineering and mechanical design is more than a problem with a solution, it is a means of self-expression.
This is a really good essay, but it doesn't answer the prompt : "the unique life experiences and cultural traditions each student brings."
you can mention your journey through art, math and physics, but talk more about how being a Russian immigrant has influenced this.
for instance:
"Math was direct, governed by a straightforward set of rules, in comparison to the random and arbitrary tendencies of language. Throughout school, I would study English, Spanish, and French, but the universal language of math remained the same across all of them. Understanding a previously foreign concept brought a feeling of satisfaction, and with it, a desire for more."
here you could talk about how the cultural differences between Russia and America have led you to find solace in math, a universal language.
Maybe you need a straightforward conclusion addressing: "What perspective do you feel that you will contribute to life at Rice?" specifically.
good luck, I'm having a really hard time with this essay myself.
Thanks so much.
I've been working on other essays in the meanwhile, but I was consdering rewriting the entire first half of this essay to focus on the russian-ness, and how Russians have a deep cultural respect for science, as well as an affinity for art, and how that along with my parents background shaped who I am
