Alumni as Inspiration: College Admission Essay Sample

Initially I was drawn towards Pratt by its alumni: Peter Max, Betsey Johnson and Robert Redford. I thought a college that trained such prominent artistic minds must be worth investigating, but the Pratt alumnus that persuaded me the most in my interests of the school was my own grandmother.

Despite my grandmother not being a famous artist, I still view her as a highly successful individual. In fact, I have never actually seen any of the paintings that she supposedly accomplished during her time at Pratt; but that is unimportant. I only know that my grandmother practices the arts with passion and also transfers these passions on to others. She is not only an enthusiastic artist and fan of art; more importantly, she is a vehicle that passes this enthusiasm onto her children and grandchildren.

Many times, one is too focused on practicing the arts to prove their own artistic merits that one neglects to share the passion for art itself. This egocentric approach proves only to apotheosize the self while it fails to contribute to society; it threatens the progression of art. From what I have learned, Pratt stresses its mission to educate the people in the arts not to create personal glory for the artist, but to make an impact upon society and in turn inspire others in the arts. This goal of Pratt is evident in a more famous alumnus, Robert Redford. As the founder of the Sundance Film Festival, Redford has created a medium that inspires filmmakers to create and share original works, which continue on to instigate the artistic thoughts of their viewers. Pratt students create to inspire, not to glorify.

If I study architecture at Pratt, I hope to learn to design space that inspires the inhabitants. For me, good architecture forces its inhabitants to view buildings in a different light, and may even cause the inhabitants to say: "this building symbolizes a good idea, but perhaps I could improve upon it". The mistake that many egocentric architects make is in designing buildings as a monument to their own "greatness". In realty one must realize that there is no perfect building. Therefore, new styles and approaches are welcome because they provide additional inspiration to the vast field of architecture. I don't wish to create a popular new style of architecture to be named after me; I hope to inspire at least one person to use their minds to create and thus contribute to society.