I Wish I Didn’t Have To…: College Admission Essay Sample

I wish I didn't have to turn on the news every morning to be enlightened by a perpetually worsening inventory of the events of our civilized world's current catastrophic plight. In fact, I wish I could watch the news and witness, just once, a report of mankind's benevolence rather than the wickedness that fills the daily headlines.

I haven't been able to watch an entire broadcast in ages without hearing about the faltering economy, threats of terrorism, or the war in Iraq and its current death toll of over two thousand needlessly slaughtered soldiers. There's always some mention of the incessant turmoil and saber-rattling within the Middle East, whether it's an act of terrorism by al-Zarqawi and Al Qaeda, or the relentless "holy" warfare between Israel and Palestine. Further hostilities have recently been highlighted in the news of the world's most dangerous dictator, Kim Jong Il of North Korea, who is allegedly counterfeiting hundred-dollar bills to finance his nuclear weapons program, which apparently could serve as the opening shots of World War III.

But these atrocities do not merely occur outside of our borders. Our nation is presently afflicted by Delay's money laundering and Libby's indictment. When did our politicians and representatives stop working for the common welfare of the people and focus solely on their own personal benefits? Yet our unpleasant news doesn't end with the malevolent actions of people - Mother Nature has taken on her share of the headlines lately. She dealt out more hurricanes this year, one of which was the most powerful ever recorded and whose effects FEMA was unprepared to handle.

Locally, in my own community, there is constantly mention of murder, abuse, or some other form of violence afflicting the society. In this past week, for instance, I was forced to bear witness to both the local news station and newspaper report that an AK-47 and two swords were confiscated from a student in the parking lot of my own high school.

I watch the news every day, and the continuous discharge of dreadful news disheartens and terrifies me. Just thirty minutes of this chaos forces me to question the morality of mankind as a whole. Is mankind inherently this evil? I don't think so. However, it is a sad state when evil is sensationalized for capitalistic advertisers' profits; I wish I didn't have to live in a society that craves to witness this display of our worst sides.

I wish I could turn on the news and smile at the report that someone somewhere is selflessly bettering this world. I wish this world were a little more idealistic, with more Mother Teresas than Saddam Husseins.