Globally Engaged: College Admission Essay Sample

What eventually becomes “intellectual curiosity” begins as a parent’s nightmare. “Noah… Stop! What are you doing?... We need that.” Eventually my parents bought my “toys” at thrift stores, old toasters, food processors, clocks… anything that I could take apart that would feed my incessant curiosity to figure out how things worked, how they were put together and literally what made them tick. I was THAT child. Yes, my parents are saints; somehow they had the energy to channel my curiosity instead of extinguishing it.

“Globally engaged”: My parents taught me that traveling should open you up to the world and the world to you. Hence, our travels were spent living among diverse peoples, getting to know their cultures. We rented rooms from locals; we stayed in yurts, hostels; we even camped out on the Great Wall of China. I learned to view cultures not through my Western worldview, but instead to understand people through the lens of their culture and norms. But, more than anything, I learned to not fear what is different.

“Outdoorsy” is in my DNA. I am the son of two river guides who traveled the world in search of beautiful rivers. I was swimming rapids in-utero! From there, I developed my own love of the outdoors, as a cyclist, skier, backpacker and surfer. I teach mountain bike camps in the summers and, when I lived in Australia, I was a lifeguard on the beach. For all these traits and more… Whitman is where I belong.