Roseyland

I have a special treat for you today. My college admission essay. I came across this when I was migrating data to my new MacBook back in October. I wrote this in the fall of 1994 when I was 17 years old, and it is one of the earliest examples of my writing that I have. It’s a little embarrassing to share this, but what the hell, it’s only the internet. Anyways, here it is, completely unedited. I’ll offer my thoughts after the essay.

I started swimming my freshman year and my life has not been the same since. Swimming has taught me more than any other activity that I have been involved in. Commitment, dedication, and determination are just a few of the values that I have gained from swimming. I believe that the most important thing swimming has taught me is the importance of setting goals. When I started swimming, I quickly learned that I could accomplish much more if I set specific goals to work toward. This encouraged me to set goals, not only in swimming, but also in my life. One of my goals is to achieve a high level of education so that I can become an engineer. As an engineer, I can contribute greatly to society, which is one of my personal goals. With these goals I am sure that I can overcome any difficulties that get in my way.

One of my most important goals is to be well educated. Some people can achieve success through sports, music, or acting but everyone can achieve success through education. In today’s world, technologies are created almost as quickly as they become out of date. If you do not want to be left behind in the dust, you must have a strong, well-rounded education. These are just a few of the reasons that being well educated is important to me. The future will definitely be filled with many incredible things and I want to be as much of a part of those things as I can. To accomplish this, I must achieve a high level of education.

Another goal that I have, that will help me be involved in the technologies of the future, is to become an engineer. Throughout high school my favorite classes have been my math and science classes. This year I am taking physics and AP chemistry. In these classes I have already seen some technologies that will be leading us into the future. I could think of nothing better to do with my life than to be involved in the development of these technologies. I believe that the best way to do that is to be an engineer. Engineers are involved in the creation of new technologies and even more important they find uses for those technologies. In my opinion there are few other careers as meaningful as engineering.

These goals that I have set for myself help add up to one of my personal goals, which I feel is my most important goal. I have set a goal to be a part of making this world a little bit of a better place. I do not want to be a member of society who just goes along with the flow, I want to be someone who helps point out the direction of that flow. One thing, that I must do to accomplish this, is to make the best decisions possible. Obtaining a well-rounded education will help me make good decisions more than anything else. Another thing, that will help me make this world a better place, is choosing a career that helps develop society. That is why being an engineer will help me. If I can help create new technologies, I will be helping society in a great way. Without engineers, we would lack many things that make our world such a great place to live in. I want to be a part of making sure that the world continues to have these great things. I may not have the opportunity to greatly affect society but I know that I can make a small difference. I believe that difference, no matter how small, will be enough to make my life worthwhile.

The things that I want to do in my life are probably not much different from the things that most people want to do in their lives. However, I believe that I have an advantage over many people because I take the time to set goals. Things always happen that knock people off course. However, since I know where I want to go I am sure that I will get there, because I can use my goals as a guiding light.

So there you have it, I wanted to be an engineer and save the world. What can I say? Mission accomplished. I mean I am an engineer and I’m sure I have saved the world at least once or twice by now. It’s weird to read this, because on one hand the writing is um.. not so great, but on the other hand, I remember exactly what I was trying to say. I wonder if I’ll look back at this blog in 10 years and feel the same way? Probably. So, what do you think? Would you admit me to your college?