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College Admissions Essay: The Value Of Scientific Work

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I found myself once again facing defeat, seeking refuge behind the protection of my glass patio door. Summer evenings generally started out pleasantly on my porch, glistened with a beautiful sunset, followed by declining temperatures which provided respite from the heat. Disaster would invariably strike, however, with the inevitable onslaught of mosquitoes. The mosquitoes were unimpressed by my insistence on remaining environmentally conscious and disavowing products containing DEET. Pinpricks of swelling bumps peppered the lengths of my arms and legs, leaving me itchy, irritated, and defeated. Nevertheless, I was undaunted, and armed with science, I steeled myself for devastating counterattacks. Informed by internet searches and research papers, I concocted a potion of lemon juice, witch hazel, bergamot, and cypress—the ultimate mosquito repellent (or so I hoped). I opened the patio door and gallantly stepped outside, boasting a short-sleeve …show more content…

Scientific work, I quickly came to realize, is humbling; it leads to introspection in its most fundamental form. My narrative is not one of defeat, but is rather one of ongoing failure. And this distinction is crucial to pinpoint: my mosquito bites are not signals of loss and finality, but are rather reminders that I am riding the constructive movement of scientific progress. It is only through the intellectual and ethical connections we form after learning from our many failures and building on occasional breakthroughs that we can understand the power of science and human collaboration. My growing number of personal failures, coupled with the knowledge of the long trajectory of my predecessors in their respective successes and failures, leave me with scars left from bug bites that have me constantly itching with a renewed faith in the scientific

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