Please help a neurotic prospective student with essay!

mireak
Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:52:18 +0000

Can someone please read through my essay and tell me what you think?
I’m a clueless international student with no idea what Northwestern is looking for in this “why northwestern” kind of essay!

I like to see the world in gray.

That is to say, I don’t want to choose between black and white. Is it always necessary for you to label yourself as one thing or the other, to take sides for or against something? Does your stance in the world have to be summed up in a single concrete idea, or particular word that will sum up your beliefs, principles and ideas?

Nowadays, there is so much pressure on taking a specific course of action. Not only in making a decision on one’s position in politics, or other social issues, but also in one’s course of education. My mom seems to be quite the leading figure of this movement of specialized direction. She has always told me to choose one thing I’m good at and become really good at this one thing. Therefore, for most of my life I’ve been driven by a fear of being stuck with something I was good at, but didn’t like. My logic became this: if I were to excel in a variety of subjects, then limits would not have to be set, giving me more time for the search of my “passion in life,” so they call it.

I was immediately attracted to Northwestern’s emphasis and excellence in a wide range of both academic and artistic divisions. It aroused the artist and pragmatist in me. Northwestern’s excellence in subjects such as theatre, art history, and economics, to list a few, allows one to be immersed in many different worlds: I want to be able to have conversations about Mondrian’s use of color in the morning, the crisis in Afghanistan in the afternoon, and the affect of different lighting in contemporary plays in the evening.

Northwestern also provides an intense and competitive atmosphere. C’est la vie! It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there; the last thing a budding adult needs is to be spoon-fed.
(need to write more here i guess)

(planning to write something bout the quarter system)

My interest for Northwestern ends at a very superficial level. I’ve lived in Singapore for 3 years, and have gradually grown used to sweating constantly, to the feel of your t-shirt sticking to your sweaty back, and to sleepless nights shuffling about the bed because of the inescapable heat. Northwestern, at the very least, offers a weather I will welcome with open arms. Sitting in my chair at 30°C, I can honestly say that I want to be freezing cold!

thankss