<p>Hoping for a bit of luck when admissions decisions are released! Anyway, I did the Play-doh to Plato one. Its a bit lengthy (hopefully not boring) but here it goes…</p>
<p>Whether one is comparing mathematical symbols to fruit-filled desserts, a John Travolta musical to Socrates’ home, or the very essence of a man to the bottoms of his feet, the task of finding a connection between two objects that, though they may sound the same, are actually very different seems like a daunting task, and the endeavor to find a pathway connecting Play-Doh to Plato is no different. However, this is more a result of an abundance of possibilities than a lack of them, for just as some may say that there are many paths to God, truth, or rapid weight loss, there are a plethora of passages between these two seemingly unrelated items. It is now, as endless possibilities spread out before me, that I must select a single path amongst thousands. As my eyes scan each possibility with care, they see the worn paths trampled harshly by many who simply followed the majority. Others have no more than a few sets of footprints tainting them, but they are equally unfit for my purposes. At last I see it, the lone path unblemished by the steps of man. Here is where my excursion begins.
As I proceed, each new step rouses the dirt of this previously flawless pathway. The first stop of my journey draws near in the form of an age-old profession that has endangered the lives of those involved with it for years. Yes, I am speaking of the perilous life of the chimney sweep, but what do Play-Doh and chimney sweeps have in common? Actually, the similarity is much more straightforward than one might think, for just as the primary job of a chimney sweep is to clear soot from chimneys, Play-Doh was actually originally designed to remove that very substance from wallpaper. Though I have only just arrived here at the first of many stops, its tainted air, ridden with ash and carcinogens, fills my lungs, and I must, as soon as my future walkway is determined, make haste. It would seem that there are many possible passages that lead onward from here. However, the child labor disputes of this profession result in nothing more than a dead end, and chimneys are a bore. Therefore, I feel that I must instead follow the footpath that leads toward a subject that has, thanks to such figures as Charles Dickens and William Blake, spoken often about the chimney sweep.<br>
Indeed, the next stop is none other than the world of English literature. Many great minds in the literary world have been produced in England, but there are none greater, at least in my mind, than that of William Shakespeare. At the mention of his immortal name, the earth itself seems to quake as the path before me spreads into many, forking outward in all possible directions. Yes, there are those obvious passages that lead through the streets of Verona, where love once led to suicide, or pass by that fortress called Elsinore, a place where ghosts of past kings roam. However, I shall instead select that road which leads, as it was once said that all do, to Rome in pursuit of Julius Caesar. Though his death is often portrayed in the play that bears his name, Caesar’s legacy goes far beyond that Shakespearean script. One of the most prominent figures in the development of the Roman Empire, his name is often associated with such characteristics as leadership, charisma, and military prowess. Yet even a man as great as he could not govern the empire singlehandedly. Though their alliance was unofficial, Caesar joined forces with Pompey and Crassus to form what is known as the First Triumvirate, a political coalition that ruled, as does that vicious hellhound Cerberus, with three heads. However, the collection of items into groups of three stretches far beyond the limited reach of either the political structure of ancient Rome or Greek mythology’s fictional beings. Nowadays, it has become clear that amigos, stooges, and celebrity deaths also tend to come in threes, but none of these seem to carry me any closer to the ultimate end of my ongoing odyssey. Perhaps the solution may be found in yet another set of three that involves one man’s theory of the human soul.<br>
Historically, the debate as to the state of the human soul seems to be one with no definite answer. One theory, known as the tripartite theory of the soul, attempted to explain it as being composed of three parts. These include the appetitive soul, which deals with base desires, the rational soul, the thinking part of man’s being, and the spirited soul, the portion of man responsible for his desire for victory and honor. Is it possible that this theory correctly describes the soul as it truly is? Could it really be that simple? I suppose so, but my purposes do not require an analysis of the validity of such a theory. Instead, its true importance can be found in the man who proposed the idea, none other than the final goal of my journey and one of the greatest philosophical minds to ever grace the earth with the workings of his mind, Plato.
My journey, it seems, has come to an end, and I look back upon it in silent wonder. Who knew such a path could exist between two subjects that once seemed to be so different? However, the mere completion of this endeavor is not what gives my heart satisfaction. It is more a result of my doing so in a way unique to my own mind, striking out on avenues where none have walked before me. That idea derives from a principle that is useful not only in this journey, but on any others that I may encounter in the future. Perhaps it can best be illustrated in a quote by John D. Rockefeller, who once stated, “If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.”</p>
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