My First Computer: College Admission Essay Sample

I became interested in physics when I built my first computer, around the age of 13. A friend and I purchased the parts individually and assembled them to create a computer more powerful than anything then available commercially. Like surgeons, we meticulously dropped each piece into its place, connected each wire to its respective socket, and designed a cable system that allowed maximum air flow, increasing the machine’s efficiency. And like mothers watching over their young, we monitored the assembly process, nervous each time we jerked our hands a little too fast or touched components before completely removing excess static from our fingertips. What started as silicon and metal morphed into my multimedia workstation, the center of my digital activity, from networking to video editing to simply printing. After we finished, my family handed over control of every photograph we had ever taken and every song we had ever listened to.

Although the responsibility of managing my family’s photographs, music, movies, documents, and internet connection was quite a bit of work, I wanted to expand my knowledge of technology. Having built a computer at the macro-component level, I felt the next step would to be to uncover the inner workings at the micro-component level. I researched the intricacies of computer processors, hard drives, and nanotechnology and its impact on electrical engineering. I was fascinated by intricacy of the components, consisting of hundreds of micro resistors, pipelines, and methods for heat dissipation. I studied the methods and development of graphical user interface, including the vast differences between Apple’s Mac OS X and Microsoft’s Windows XP.

My interest in computers has morphed into a general curiosity regarding technology and a desire to pursue system mechanics further. Learning the intricacies of computers has pushed me to share my knowledge not just about technology, but about my other interests. For the past three years I have written about twenty reviews of CD’s for Amplified, Horace Mann’s music publication. My goal as a music journalist is to expose my readers to music they do not normally listen to. I want to inspire people to explore and look beyond the normal boundaries of what is played through pop culture radio and television. Although I would like to branch out into writing about science as well as music, in college my primary goal is to continue my education in technology, computers, and engineering.