Hi college confidential!
I am a high school junior who is aspiring to top colleges like Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton (go tigers!!!). I have spent the last 5 months writing and perfecting my common app essay and I am very proud of it. Please let me know what you think.
25.268333, 56.280278 Type these coordinates into a Google Earth, or if absolutely necessary, some web based application. Be sure to zoom out! This is the village of Nahwa, an enclave within an enclave of the UAE. It looks a little like a nested Matryoshka doll. Maps in general, college applicants, and people, are often like Matroyoshka dolls, containing more information as you look deeper and deeper. The people of Nahwa felt family ties to those in UAE and opted to join that nation unlike their neighbors. The human aspect of a map is intangible and makes maps for most people “unreadable.” The fields of the social sciences are all accustomed with maps, and they are my favorite way to show my pride for the studies of humanity. But my relationship with maps is long enough that I feel best telling my story through them.
Maps tell many tales, and perhaps the most accessible maps show journeys. A map of my life would easily depict the physical locations I’ve been and routes I have taken. But in reality the organized spatial depictions of maps are never the whole story. To understand where I’ve been, I have to delve into the metadata of those maps.
41.008548, 28.979938 Maps are subject, as are all medium, to sensationalism. Here is the Hagia Sophia, beautiful in its architecture and story and prominent on any map. I visited once, but a simple tourist expose didn’t suffice. Having researched beforehand, I dragged my friends to every unique nook and cranny. The stunning mosaics, soaring minarets, spicy meals and semi-divinity of the city of Istanbul serve as inspirations. That is a huge influence on my life. It’s one of the ways I define my own personal happiness; studying history and geography and culture and religion are ways I make my own experiences meaningful. And that has overtime led me to seeking that basic question of human welfare- happiness- in the context of those very same fields.
9.729167, -82.825 Maps reflect change over time too. Here is Cahuita, home to a coral reef and site of my school’s biodiversity expedition. Planning, executing, and reflecting on this international science venture was one of the most difficult things in my life. I won’t elaborate on the cultural insights, observations of development, and definitions of lifestyles I experienced there. But it is important to me for another reason. I learned to affect change and change for the better, too. The maps can change, and I can be a part of mending their scars. I have participated in a dozen organizations that work to change things for the betterment of society and its members.
21.32, -157.96 Maps can tell you a thousand other things that I would love to share and reflect on. But the purpose of maps is often to condense data. A physical map of my life would journey through 9 different homes, 50 states, several countries, and a countless physical locations. Those coordinates are of Fort Kamehameha, one of those places I will always call a home. But on personal level the journey is simple. From the Values Mountains, including twin peaks Mom & Dad, the Teacher ranges, and Society Summit, descend the rivers of Curiosity, Action, Involvement, and Understanding. The rivers have some tough rapids, such as New Homes, Deployment, and Sympathy. Traveling through the Peer-Group hills, the forests of Experience, and fertile fields of Knowledge, the rivers confluence at the city of Self-Reflection. The city’s port is known as What Next.
I’m considering boarding the ship Developmental Economist. Hopefully aboard it I can use my love of social sciences and humanity to take action to “change the world.” This is my map. The map will always reflect passion for people and society, for action and understanding, for knowledge and sympathy. But here comes the exciting part: College Continent, coming up!