College Admissions Essay: No Reservations

Combining my two passions of traveling and pursuing a career in the health field has always been a dream of mine. I hope to study abroad during the summers of my undergraduate years at UC Berkeley. Studying internationally will also broaden my horizons on the different medical techniques that are being practiced in various locations around the world. While traveling outside of the United States to study abroad would provide remarkable education and experiences, traveling to different states in the United States would also provide noteworthy experiences. I would hope that through networking with Cal alumni as well as Cal faculty I

Discovering and choosing a college that best suits my needs was a rigorous yet thrilling task. The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising clearly came forth as the best choice for me to further my education in design. Being unable to visit the college campus, as I live in New York, I've done lots and lots of research about FIDM, and I realize the institute offers what I hope to gain from my college experience.

Studying abroad is important to me for a multitude of reasons. The most pressing of which is,

I like to think of myself as a person who can appreciate and understand everyone's opinions. Although I might not agree with them, I feel as if everyone's beliefs and thoughts deserve to have equal initial respect. This leads me to where I was first introduced to discrimination and racism, the exact opposite concepts I now try to surround myself with. I have lived in Cross Roads, Pennsylvania for the entirety of my young life and if there is anything obvious about my community, it is that we are not very advanced in the diversity department. My hometown is predominantly white, which brings on a whole new set of problems concerning discrimination and racism, especially when a family of a different race moves to our community. Now don't get me wrong, my family, my friends, my neighbors, are not bad people. Most of them are great people but a few have just been brought up with idealisms that I myself find racist in nature. As an example, someone I spend a lot of time with because of family relations is in many ways ignorant to people different than them. They, like me, grew up in a

I have always wanted to travel during college to study, volunteer, or both, and the study abroad programs and scholarships pertaining to the Honors LLC will allow me to achieve these dreams. I believe traveling to new places is an unparalleled method of learning, as traveling exposes you to ideas, customs, and mannerisms that no textbook can ever teach. In today’s global society, being aware of other cultures is crucial from a personal, business, and societal standpoint.

Since I started community college I’ve heard several dozen cases of people changing their major, changing their transfer college, or just changing their mind. I’m not likely to do any of that, I choose to use my time in high school deciding what I wanted to do and so far I am sticking to it without a doubt in my mind. I chose to go to community college, earn my Associate's in Business Administration, and transfer to James Madison University in the fall of 2018, graduate in 2020 with my Bachelor’s. I intend to get my Master’s either right after my Bachelor’s or within a few years of my career. I hope to have a job leaving JMU, my first accounting job of my career. I decided to major in accounting for a plethora of reasons, but not what most people expect.

I’ve always been interested in the field of medicine. When I was being born, I almost died, being saved only by the ingenuity of a Nurse Day for whom my middle name is dedicated to. Above all else, I want to have an impact on the quality of life for others, and I think the University of Pennsylvania is one of, if not the, best ways to do that. Its bioengineering department is consistently ranked to be the most rigorous in the field, and I can handle rigor.

My mom signed me up for the community library when I just turned 6 years old. Even if I did not know how to properly read at the time, I had to go there every afternoon to keep myself busy as an only child. Being opened to books at such an early clearly has had a major impact on my life and personality. From the local tales of my beloved Senegalese society to the deep and sophisticated French literature, I have traveled through cultures and generations. Whether it is Emile Zola’s collection of novels or Albert Camus’s philosophical texts, these books raised me and taught me about life, love, and resilience. As times went by, reading was no more a regular pastime but a detrimental part of my existence. The lessons and morality I gained from each story always pushed me to challenge the status quo, to be curious, to be adventurous but most importantly to be a problem solver.

Trying to decide what to do for the rest of my life is a hassle. I have to consider what I do well, what I enjoy, and how much income I would like to make. No one wants to wake up every morning hating their lives because they have to work long hours doing something they do not enjoy just to earn an income. The more a person loves their job, the better they will be at it and the more they will be willing to go to work. After spending many years being indecisive about my future, I have finally committed to pursue a career in speech pathology at Nicholls State University.

I started working for Dollywood Splash Country my sophomore year of high school as a lifeguard. It requires many early mornings, long days, late nights and constant focus out in the hot summer weather. Even though this isn’t always the most glamorous job I have taken pride in working hard and being ready to serve in whatever capacity I can to help out other employees and managerial staff. I arrive early and will work late if needed, because I really enjoy working hard and the satisfaction I receive. No matter how I’m feeling that day I come into work every day and fully dedicate myself to the job trying to feel like I did everything I could to improve the workplace when I leave that day.

If someone asked me where I am going to be in ten years, this would be my answer. I will have a great, high-paying job, and beautiful wife and family, and a nice sports car parked in front of my lovely house. When I look into the future, I see myself being successful and happy. Even though I always pictured myself this way, I never worried too much about how I would get there. I feel the Suffolk University can lay the groundwork for making these dreams into reality.

When I imagine my future, I envision attending George Washington University and taking advantage of its never-ending opportunities. My main goal is to receive a degree relating to environmental studies with an emphasis on public health. I intend on gaining the appropriate knowledge to travel the world to help improve the quality of life of others. GW offers both pathways which gives me the flexibility to explore what I feel most passionate about in order to determine how exactly I want to approach my career goals. After some research, I noticed GW puts great emphasis on study abroad programs which I would like to take full advantage. Being immersed in a completely different setting and culture will give me a greater sense of my surroundings.

I am writing this because I urge you to reconsider my admission to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I was recently denied admission in March, which has truly affected me in a number of ways. My top goal in life has been to attend UW-Madison since a very young age. However, I am currently questioning Madison’s ethics and protocols considering that a friend with much lower credentials than me was offered admission and I was not. I know for a fact that her ACT score was three points lower than mine, her GPA is a little higher than mine, but relatively the same. I also participate in a lot more extracurriculars than her and hold much more leadership positions. I am currently questioning if her race played a role in her acceptance since she is Hispanic and I am Caucasian. I truly hope that I was not denied acceptance to my dream school due to affirmative action.

Studying abroad has always been a dream of mine. Being able to go to another country and learn their customs in relation to health, healthcare, and medicine just felt like an opportunity I could not pass up. My study abroad experience started just a few weeks after my very last spring semester at Sam Houston State University. I had never been out of the country before so I was filled with excitement, anticipation, and I could not wait to see what was in store for me is San Jose, Costa Rica. Continually

“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” (Anthony Bourdain)