BU Supplement Essay - Something that’s not on the resume: College Admission Essay Sample

An issue I am deeply concerned with is the environment, because without a stable environment, humans simply cannot exist. My junior year, I took AP Environmental Science, and many of the things I learned in that class sparked my interest in the preservation of the natural world. One of the main problems that we face in protecting the environment is global climate change, which is largely due to the immense amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere every day. Because of the vastness of this problem, the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or at the very least limiting our output of it provides substantial entrepreneurial opportunities. This interests me greatly, because it combines two of my passions, the environment and entrepreneurship.Recently, I came upon an exciting news story. The headline read “Scientists Accidentally Discover Efficient Process to Turn CO2 into Ethanol.” The discovery of this prospect fascinated me. The process the article described was fairly simple, requiring only common elemental materials, and it was possible at room temperature, which would save lots of money compared to other methods where a certain temperature must be maintained. Most importantly, a product of the reaction is ethanol, which is commonly used as a fuel in combustion reactions to create energy. In turn, combustion reactions create CO2, which could then be fed back into the first reaction, and so on. This breakthrough is huge, because although it’s not perfect, the process could create a near infinite energy loop, a feat highly sought after in terms of energy sustainability. This potential intrigues me, because it is my dream to create a company that would not only be profitable but would also help to protect the environment, and a discovery like this has made that possible.