I took this conviction with me directly into college, and let nothing stand in my way. While completing my first year at Franklin & Marshall, I decided that I wanted to get my hands dirty right away and start doing hands-on research. I was told that it [it = I] would be unlikely to find a position as a wet-behind-the-ears freshman, but nevertheless [,] I applied for several summer research positions, many targeted at sophomores and juniors. Happily, I was accepted into the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program at Michigan State University, with a position in the Toxicology and Pharmacology Department. I spent that summer becoming adept at obtaining and preparing rat arteries and veins and then performing studies with a vasoconstrictive drug, endothelin-1. More importantly, I developed skills essential to being a scientist; I wrote a paper on my work and gave a presentation to the entire department. From that point on, I had a concrete reference point for the concept of “research,” which informed my further engagement with the sciences in a very real way.
The next [next = following] year, I again refused to hear the word “can’t” and vigorously pursued the opportunity to study abroad, which is notoriously difficult as a science major. With the help of my college’s study abroad office, I discovered the Trans-Atlantic Science Student Exchange Program and the chance to study at Trinity College Dublin for an entire year. Having been fascinated by Irish history and culture since a crash [introductory or survey] course in high school, I leapt at the chance. After slogging my way through months of administrative sloth, I was accepted and set off across the ocean. Little did I know that the year I spent in Dublin would transform me in every way, from the academic to the deeply personal. [It sounds like there’s a story in the deeply personal – I’m sure there is, but I doubt you want the admissions people asking. Also, ‘the academic’ sounds weird. Maybe ‘Little did I know that the year I spent in Dublin would transform me in every way, including academically and personally.’] I blossomed dramatically out of my rather introverted shell, and built an entire life there with people that [erase ‘that’ or switch it with ‘who’] I came to love with all of my heart. At the same time, I was immersed up to my neck in a completely novel educational system. I took third year level chemistry and biochemistry courses with students who had much more focused science backgrounds than I [it’s relatively uncommon to end on ‘I’ – you could end on ‘I did’]. The transition was overwhelming at first, but it pushed me to be a fully independent student, solely responsible for my own mastery of the material. The comprehensive set of exams at the end of the year, which covered 9 months of lectures, was a challenge whose sheer magnitude intimidated me, but I set up camp in the library and ultimately triumphed. The experience turned me into a more confident student and person, better prepared to handle whatever life throws at me.
Now here [I’d erase ‘here’] I stand at the next fork in the road. The curiosity of that little girl who asked endless questions of her all-knowing father persists unabated, her appetite whetted by years of top-notch education, yet unsatisfied. I want to ask the questions that pierce deepest. A graduate education is the ideal tool with which I can truly begin to immerse myself in the smallest details to explain the largest phenomena. Life is a miracle that defies explanation, but I’d like to try my hand.
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Date: 2008-12-07 09:03 am (UTC)The next [next = following] year, I again refused to hear the word “can’t” and vigorously pursued the opportunity to study abroad, which is notoriously difficult as a science major. With the help of my college’s study abroad office, I discovered the Trans-Atlantic Science Student Exchange Program and the chance to study at Trinity College Dublin for an entire year. Having been fascinated by Irish history and culture since a crash [introductory or survey] course in high school, I leapt at the chance. After slogging my way through months of administrative sloth, I was accepted and set off across the ocean. Little did I know that the year I spent in Dublin would transform me in every way, from the academic to the deeply personal. [It sounds like there’s a story in the deeply personal – I’m sure there is, but I doubt you want the admissions people asking. Also, ‘the academic’ sounds weird. Maybe ‘Little did I know that the year I spent in Dublin would transform me in every way, including academically and personally.’] I blossomed dramatically out of my rather introverted shell, and built an entire life there with people that [erase ‘that’ or switch it with ‘who’] I came to love with all of my heart. At the same time, I was immersed up to my neck in a completely novel educational system. I took third year level chemistry and biochemistry courses with students who had much more focused science backgrounds than I [it’s relatively uncommon to end on ‘I’ – you could end on ‘I did’]. The transition was overwhelming at first, but it pushed me to be a fully independent student, solely responsible for my own mastery of the material. The comprehensive set of exams at the end of the year, which covered 9 months of lectures, was a challenge whose sheer magnitude intimidated me, but I set up camp in the library and ultimately triumphed. The experience turned me into a more confident student and person, better prepared to handle whatever life throws at me.
Now here [I’d erase ‘here’] I stand at the next fork in the road. The curiosity of that little girl who asked endless questions of her all-knowing father persists unabated, her appetite whetted by years of top-notch education, yet unsatisfied. I want to ask the questions that pierce deepest. A graduate education is the ideal tool with which I can truly begin to immerse myself in the smallest details to explain the largest phenomena. Life is a miracle that defies explanation, but I’d like to try my hand.