Why I Want To Be Selected Essay
Up until the summer in between freshman and sophomore year I had not fully established the ideology by which I wanted to live. I had passions in life such as classical music, triathlons, at the time engineering, and service, but I had not found the way or in a sense style of life I wanted to abide by while also doing the things I truly loved and enjoyed. At certain points prior to the summer, I had glimpses of what I wanted to be and how to carry myself. My most memorable experience of this prior to my life changing trip happened to occur in Barcelona. I was touring the city with my friend and fortunately on the tour was a stop at La Sagrada Familia, the beyond incredible Basilica that dominates the skyline. I walked up to the Basilica casually
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talking to my friend about how awesome Barcelona was up until I set foot inside the Basilica. In that moment I became more than speechless as I gazed up and around at the marble columns that were radiating light and illuminating the Basilica. The white noise seemed to fade away and I was left with the most heavenly score of music being performed by a choir. For the next 30 seconds, I was frozen in time and felt a sense of completeness and happiness that was alien to me. I had just experienced the most incredible moment in my life so far and new that I now wanted to live in a way to replicate that sensation.
That summer I decided to push my own personal limits.
I went online and found the most rustic and service intensive program. I wanted to serve a community in the most authentic way possible and learn the customs and culture of an entirely different region in the world. Immediately after landing I experienced a complete culture shock and I, for the most part, keep a pretty open mind about situations. First, they don't have traditional toilets but rather what you might call a “squatty potty” and additionally none of the villages had A/C. But instantly upon arriving at a village, I was blown away. I quote from my journal, “ Today I met the villagers for the first time and saw true happiness in those around me that have little possessions.” Woah, that brief moment of just realizing and almost feeling the aura of happiness just blew my mind into thousands of fragments. I mean here in the United States there are millions of people who long for materialistic possessions, who are not satisfied with what they have and always strive for more and those are the very actions that almost bring upon their demise. Yet, in Laos, it almost felt as though they had it figured out. They didn't really on possessions but relied on people in their community for happiness. I also begin to notice that between the multitude of similarities that kept appearing between the people of Laos and my friends and I. It was almost reassuring seeing how many people these days are saying the world is separating
further but, being in that country helped exemplify that indeed this was not true. Slowly as the 25 days progressed my mind was starting to form its own idea of what I wanted to aspire and what ideology I wanted to live by and define for my life's pursuits. It's not how many items you buy or your status in society, I found out that it's how you carry yourself and form relationships with others on your journey. It's about surrounding yourself with a community of believers who always motivate you and push you to strive for greater things in life, and it's most importantly about doing what you love most with the people you love best and impacting the society for the greater in that certain aspect.
talking to my friend about how awesome Barcelona was up until I set foot inside the Basilica. In that moment I became more than speechless as I gazed up and around at the marble columns that were radiating light and illuminating the Basilica. The white noise seemed to fade away and I was left with the most heavenly score of music being performed by a choir. For the next 30 seconds, I was frozen in time and felt a sense of completeness and happiness that was alien to me. I had just experienced the most incredible moment in my life so far and new that I now wanted to live in a way to replicate that sensation.
That summer I decided to push my own personal limits.
I went online and found the most rustic and service intensive program. I wanted to serve a community in the most authentic way possible and learn the customs and culture of an entirely different region in the world. Immediately after landing I experienced a complete culture shock and I, for the most part, keep a pretty open mind about situations. First, they don't have traditional toilets but rather what you might call a “squatty potty” and additionally none of the villages had A/C. But instantly upon arriving at a village, I was blown away. I quote from my journal, “ Today I met the villagers for the first time and saw true happiness in those around me that have little possessions.” Woah, that brief moment of just realizing and almost feeling the aura of happiness just blew my mind into thousands of fragments. I mean here in the United States there are millions of people who long for materialistic possessions, who are not satisfied with what they have and always strive for more and those are the very actions that almost bring upon their demise. Yet, in Laos, it almost felt as though they had it figured out. They didn't really on possessions but relied on people in their community for happiness. I also begin to notice that between the multitude of similarities that kept appearing between the people of Laos and my friends and I. It was almost reassuring seeing how many people these days are saying the world is separating
further but, being in that country helped exemplify that indeed this was not true. Slowly as the 25 days progressed my mind was starting to form its own idea of what I wanted to aspire and what ideology I wanted to live by and define for my life's pursuits. It's not how many items you buy or your status in society, I found out that it's how you carry yourself and form relationships with others on your journey. It's about surrounding yourself with a community of believers who always motivate you and push you to strive for greater things in life, and it's most importantly about doing what you love most with the people you love best and impacting the society for the greater in that certain aspect.