Who I Am: My Interests and Aspirations: College Admission Essay Sample

Maturation is a long, tedious process, as thrilling as it is challenging. Each stage of a young life poses its own set of unique challenges: the toddler taking his first clumsy steps, slowly progressing towards two-limbed balance; the first grader reciting the alphabet with gusto and pride; the high school student writing, editing, and re-editing his personal statement for college admission.

The pinnacle of coming of age, however, is perhaps the tail end: the collegiate years. This span of life, relatively short yet flush with personal growth, contains within it a slew of choices--forks in the road--that one must tackle. Decisions made by college students involve core issues that have dramatic impact on the years moving forward. These decisions set the tone, and the course, of life as an increasingly independent young adult.

I am flush with enthusiasm, ambition, and academic knowledge, yet lack the finesse and wisdom that comes with life experience. Thus the choices that I must make as I approach my senior year of high school studies are, to state it lightly, most daunting. I must decide on the institution at which I will spend the next four years, as well as the course of study that I will pursue there.

Onwards to my academic interests, which are varied. My foremost fascination is the culture of lands near and far, the ways of life in foreign countries. I devour information on the customs, costumes, work habits, holidays, and attitudes of Argentineans and Bolivians, Austrians and Bulgarians. For instance, that Spaniards eat a light dinner much later than most of the Western world is to my fascination.

The cuisine of a nation -- the food itself and the habits around its consumption -- is, in my estimation, the most telling and colorful slice of culture that a nation offers. To know what a people eats is to know much about the people's history, religious beliefs, agricultural output, not to mention the meteorology and topography of the land in which they roam. I can spend hours--well, maybe 90 minutes at a time--browsing Wikipedia for photographs and descriptions of regional fare and national dishes; recently I delved into the traditional fare at Japanese baseball stadiums (where greasy hot dogs sit alongside bento boxes of eel, rice balls, and shrimp chips), while on another occasion I immersed myself in the contents of--and differences between--the traditional 'Full Breakfasts' of Ireland, Scotland, and England. The contents of Spaniards' late dinner--mostly tapas, and most popularly a dense potato omelette--is even more fascinating than the time at which these savory treats are consumed.

Traveling is thus a passion of mine, and experiencing the world is an aspiration to which I am dedicated.

Within this realm of social sciences, I am, too, fascinated with the law. The intellectual challenges of lawyering -- and the oratorical artistry of litigation, in particular -- appeal to me. Lawyers have nearly unrivaled power to solve problems, and to quell fears. Lawyers offer comfort and protection to their clients, yet elicit fear in their adversaries. Lawyers, too, can make a handsome living.

I have always envisioned myself pursuing a career in law -- and incorporating within this career my passion for all that is international. I envision that my studies as an undergraduate student at New York University will afford me the opportunity to explore who it is I am, and who it is that I want to be; I fully intend to ask the tough questions, take the most challenging of classes, and seek advice from the most mentoring of faculty -- so as to probe how to best weld these interests, and hone in one my skills.