Hey there! Made a draft of this essay and just needed some potential editing tips! (UVA does ask for ~250 words, but I'm at almost 300! The text limit is 300, but I'm afraid that it might be a bit above the 250 range UVA suggests. Potential word count reduction?) Thanks in advance!
We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer this question, which corresponds to the school/program you selected above, in a half page or roughly 250 words.
What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?
In a world of technological innovations and towering cityscapes, it can be hard at times to truly imagine what the prehistoric world looked like. After all, we've only been recording history for 5,000 years, which sounds like an eternity until you realize mankind has existed for 200,000 years. The few things we do have to commemorate the other 98% of our existence are some cave paintings, primitive tools, and the occasional bone fragment. It simply isn't possible for ancient artifacts to fully represent prehistoric life, or so I thought.
Enter Blue Babe. During the summer of 1979, he was found perfectly preserved in the Alaskan permafrost. Now nestled inside a museum, surrounded by a zoo of skeletons and bone parts, this deceivingly alive Steppe Bison stuck out like a sore thumb. I could see wrinkles in the skin folds, the details of it's bronze-colored horns, and even make out individual eyelids! Had I not been told I was looking at a 30,000 year old animal, I would've been none the wiser.
I've always viewed history as a static slideshow. The grand battles of the Revolutionary War and the busy markets of Renaissance era Florence could only be captured by still paintings. No amount of color or realism can capture the smells, sounds, and atmosphere of an event. Condensing an era into a singular illustration allowed me to take a glimpse at what once was, but I can't help feel like a far-removed observer at times.
But here I was, standing in the presence of a long-extinct animal as our prehistoric ancestors might have seen. The creature gave me a new perspective of history. It is no longer just the amassment of statistics and facts to me, but rather a living, breathing collection of stories and experiences.
We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer this question, which corresponds to the school/program you selected above, in a half page or roughly 250 words.
What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?
my new perspective of history
In a world of technological innovations and towering cityscapes, it can be hard at times to truly imagine what the prehistoric world looked like. After all, we've only been recording history for 5,000 years, which sounds like an eternity until you realize mankind has existed for 200,000 years. The few things we do have to commemorate the other 98% of our existence are some cave paintings, primitive tools, and the occasional bone fragment. It simply isn't possible for ancient artifacts to fully represent prehistoric life, or so I thought.
Enter Blue Babe. During the summer of 1979, he was found perfectly preserved in the Alaskan permafrost. Now nestled inside a museum, surrounded by a zoo of skeletons and bone parts, this deceivingly alive Steppe Bison stuck out like a sore thumb. I could see wrinkles in the skin folds, the details of it's bronze-colored horns, and even make out individual eyelids! Had I not been told I was looking at a 30,000 year old animal, I would've been none the wiser.
I've always viewed history as a static slideshow. The grand battles of the Revolutionary War and the busy markets of Renaissance era Florence could only be captured by still paintings. No amount of color or realism can capture the smells, sounds, and atmosphere of an event. Condensing an era into a singular illustration allowed me to take a glimpse at what once was, but I can't help feel like a far-removed observer at times.
But here I was, standing in the presence of a long-extinct animal as our prehistoric ancestors might have seen. The creature gave me a new perspective of history. It is no longer just the amassment of statistics and facts to me, but rather a living, breathing collection of stories and experiences.