College Admissions Essay: The Power Of Fear

Fear stalks humanity wherever it goes. It feeds on our panic and uncertainty. This is seen throughout 1692, the 1950s, and the present, when a leader with great power creates a solution to a problem that people did not even know they had to fear people begin to fear as well as the cycle of innocent people falsely confessing adding to the fear.

They say that there is nothing to fear but fear itself, yet I tend to disagree. Our world is packed full of things to be afraid of. As a child, we are afraid of the dark or monsters hiding underneath our beds; but, as we grow with wisdom and age, those fears become bigger and more worldly. We fear things like terrorism or illness. The fear that consumes me most is that my best might never be enough.

Everyone has to make choices in their life. Some are everyday choices, like what to eat or drink. Others are more critical, like choosing a job. Important decisions take time to comprehend. Like with me, the decision to go to college was the most critical choice in my life and for my future, and I will never regret it. Going to college is important because it helps me find a job, it expands my knowledge, and it is a wonderful experience.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” What is fear? Fear can be a noun or a verb. In the noun form, it is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. In the verb form, it is to be afraid of someone or something that is dangerous, painful, or threatening. If one person looks into fear, then that person becomes feared. But imagine a whole society or community looking into fear. The fear not only gets larger as it spreads, but it also gets more fearful than it already is. The power of fear can be displayed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and in Ronald Oakley’s “The Great Fear”. As fear moves on from one mind to the next, it leaves the

The idea of fear is a fairly simple concept, yet it carries the power to consume and control lives. Fears have stemmed from an inadvertent psychological response to situations deemed threating to one’s personal safety, but have evolved into a complex web of often illogical misconceptions which are able to cloud a person’s judgment and result in situations often worse than originally intended. Fears can be hard to quell, but it has been shown the best way to overcome fears is often to face them, as author James Baldwin asserted when he wrote, “To defend oneself against fear is simply to insure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced.” Baldwin makes strongly qualified statement, and his idea fears must be faced to

Fear is often characterized as an irrational sense of negativity toward the unknown or the unlikeable. In the eyes of many Americans, the majority of whom proclaim their Christian beliefs, this sensation is considered unavoidable. Marilynne Robinson argues in her article “Fear”, published by The New York Review of Books in 2015, that “...first, contemporary America is full of fear. And second, fear is not a Christian habit of mind” (Robinson 1). In other words, it is ‘unchristian’ to fear. In both the beginning and conclusion, she clearly expresses credibility through her extensive credentials and strong emotional arguments; however, this is overshadowed by the wordiness, sarcasm, and lack of

Fear can change people in many ways. Three of them are by making people afraid of change, by making them avoid possible death, and also by staying away from what they fear.

What is fear? Fear can be, and can come from, many things. It can come from everyday life experiences, such as taking tests in school, or giving a speech in a meeting at work. Or from things that frighten more people than just yourself. Such as going to war, being in an accident, or in the midst of a public shooting. In Alan Axelrod’s, “Nothing to Fear: Lessons in Leadership from FDR”, Alan talks about fear, and his points are valid, for fear is like a fog, it can be overcome, and that mankind has had worse things to fear than what is feared in his writing.

Henry David Thoreau once said that “nothing is so much to be feared as fear.” This quote suggests that the only thing we should be afraid of is fear itself. This message is found throughout the book “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles. Like many of the times it’s mentioned in the book, I believe that the only thing we should be afraid of is fear itself.

Fear is an unshakable feeling that is driven by both rational, and irrational causes, but in the heat of the moment differentiating the rational, from the irrational can be nearly impossible. When control is given into the hands of fear, no matter how pure or genuine the intention, the outcome will be horrific. The Crusades and The Salem Witch Trials are two historical events that started with the idea of holy purification, but because of the corruption of man both events turned into hellish conquests, that resulted in hysteria, and murder. But it all begins with one individual convincing the others that what they are doing is right, true and pure.

Miguel Gonzalez December 3rd, 2015 Sociology 1 Stephen Book Review: “The Culture of Fear: Why Americans are Afraid of the Wrong Things” The Culture of Fear originally published in 1999 but was updated and enlarged for its tenth anniversary edition in 2010. The author is Barry Glassner a former sociology professor and executive vice provost at the University of Southern California. He claims that many Americans’ concerns and fears are largely unfounded; therefore, his book is focused on the question of why America happens to be a nation where fear is highly captivated in most of our social media and seeks to find how and why people become fearful to certain aspects of society.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” When FDR said this at his inaugural address, he impacted millions without realizing it. Although it was originally meant to help ease the worry of millions of Americans during the Great Depression (in a time of chaos), it still applies to today and will continue to apply for years to come. It applies with the 2016 election, as many people believe that Trump won not because he was the better candidate, but because he played to people’s fears in a time of disorder. It even applies to Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, when a community of boys are stranded on an island alone and attempt to make their own civilization. It also occurs in “Night Surf,” a short story by Stephen King about a group of lone teenagers who

Fear is a powerful emotion. It is the root of motivation for most people and is what drives them to make certain decisions. This can be a problem to a certain point if, for example, the government, religion, and businesses use it to extort and control people, which has been happening for centuries. This leads me to believe and agree with the statement made by Lewis Lapham, editor and founder of Lapham’s Quarterly, that claims “fear itself is America’s top-selling consumer product.”

There is an important event that happens in every person’s life. That important event may be a number of things. Such as someone winning the lottery or even having a tragic loss in the family. My important event in life was the day I conquered my fear of heights. Everyone has some type of fear or phobia that absolutely petrifies them. Whether it’s a fear of snakes, swimming, or even germs, it can be conquered as I discovered.

According to my dictionary, Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. When the word "fear" comes to my mind, I think of an emotion that's caused by a bad situation. There are many things in this world that put fear in me. My greatest fears are computer viruses, thugs, sick people, and clowns. Each of these fears make me very scared and give me goosebumps.