College of Arts – Undergraduate Admission Essay

Describe your intellectual interests, their evolution, and what makes them exciting to you. Tell us how you will utilize the academic programs in the College of Arts and Sciences to further explore your

interests, intended major, or field of study. (max 500 words)

Peeking through the immense world with my miniature self, the world seemed so beautiful and adventurous. Many questions emerged in my head regarding this mysterious globe. My mom automatically became the source of the answers.
“Why is the sky blue, mom?”
“Because a big ball full of blue paint exploded in the sky.”
“Why are there lightning and thunders, mom?”
“Because a bad fairy with a flashlight is playing catch with a bad goblin with a hammer.”

As I grew up, my curiosity became even more extravagant. Mom knew that she couldn’t concoct answers anymore. In order to shield away from my incessant questions, she came home with a huge encyclopaedia one day. This huge book of knowledge explained practically all of the phenomenon that I wanted to know. This book helped me begin my path of learning the interesting world of life.

Whenever I found anything that I was curious about, I went straight to my treasure – the encyclopaedia. I was so ecstatic once when I found out that plants are green because they have a pigment called chlorophyll, not because the god is an impeccable stylist and thinks that the color green complements the blue sky, which was the answer my mom gave me. Some leaves change colors during the autumn because the enzymes that make up chlorophyll don’t work during the cold weather and not because god always becomes bored of green during autumn and wants more colors on Earth.

Thus, I have continued gaining knowledge through that thick encyclopaedia. The event of my sister being sick and seeing such an incapable doctor changed my road of learning to the human body. I couldn’t believe that such a highly educated and respected being who has the art of healing could be so cruel and rude to people. From then on, I was extremely determined to become a caring doctor that could aid and heal people.

All of a sudden, Gr. 11 biology class rolled around. I was extremely confident going into that class as I knew I already had more knowledge than most people in the room. I wasn’t nervous at all going into my first quiz in biology even though my teacher had notoriety for being the most difficult teacher in school. My confidence fell exponentially when I saw how difficult the test was. All of a sudden, I started to doubt myself. Am I really good at biology? Do I have what it takes to become a doctor? All of the worries and apprehension haunted me every night. For that while, I just lied awake in my bed at night, not moving, just contemplating about my future in biology. Doesn’t one have to be good at biology to call it an interest? A week, later, I received my test, the mark is even lower than what I expected – the lowest mark that I’ve ever gotten in my life! At that time I really felt like that my interest for biology was futile.

I’ve been moody for such a long time that my despondency had started to negatively influence my other subjects too. I lied on my bed without sleeping; I didn’t even have the energy to go on to that imaginary world. I realized one day that I couldn’t carry on like this anymore. I loved biology way too much to give it up for an insignificant quiz. I took action.

I went to ask my biology teacher for help. We talked and I told her that I studied biology by myself and was shocked to find out that I was incapable of receiving a decent mark on the first quiz. She aided me a lot and told me what I should focus on when answering questions. I persevered and, in the end, received a 91% in that class. This grade eleven biology class made me love biology even more, and most importantly, taught me to take it more seriously.

What makes biology so intriguing and fascinating to me is the fact that I can understand the human body much better. I become so excited when the television or the radio explains a theory, a disease or a function of a specific part that I already was familiar with. The most exciting part about biology is that people can have the ability to heal illnesses with the knowledge of biology. My goal in life is to help others and make others and myself happy. Biology is definitely the path that I can take to fulfill my goal.

Unequivocally, the College of Arts and Sciences is the direction that I need to go in order to enrich my knowledge in biology. With the numerous experiments and lessons that I will be most fortunately to attend, my interest for biology would be expanding further away. I am excited to go to university, Cornell above all others, to embark onto the journey that will take me to happiness and fulfillment.