No you don’t have to express that in your essay. My engineering major wrote an essay about developing something related to her band program. It had NOTHING to do with engineering but it did speak to her leadership, commitment to task, and ability to complete something she wanted to do.
Can you do that?
Your essay needs to be YOU…not some concocted thing you think will impress the adcoms.
And by the way…your interests are just that…interests. They are not a “hook”.