<p>Hitler was described as a tyrant; a mass murderer who wanted the complete extermination of Jews, Gay, and people of color. This paper isnt about killing, isnt about racism, isnt about homosexuality, isnt about Hitler; its about life. Life endures from the power of love, not the love of power (Jimi Hendrix). Life is an ensemble of people suffering and thriving, crying and laughing, and dying and being born; a complex web of triumph and failures. And if youre lucky, a chance to bring new light to this forgotten paradise. This new light is born at random. Randomized religion, randomized birthplace, and randomized class stature will define the culture for this child. We as parents can intersect but the child is ultimately defined by his view of the culture he lives in. A place with such inconsistency, such static, that no one can prevent children from suffering.
Sub-replacement fertility was first seen in the eighteenth century Europe. When achieving socioeconomically growth birthing patterns become static, resulting in lower a birthrate to death rate; subsequently, causing a decline in population. Most modern westernized cultures are experiencing a decline in the amount of persons projected between 2000 and 2025 under the age of 55, with the exception of America. America is the demographic exception. While most post-modern industrialized nations are experiencing birth rates of 1.3 to 1.4 America has a birthrate of 2.0 to 2.1, making it roughly forty percent higher than other post-modern nations. Although Hispanics do have a fertility rate of 2.7 and blacks have a rate around 2.4, excluding them from America will not fix Americas expanding population (2004 N. Eberstadt).
Americas view on values and immigration standards are the main components for increasing fertility rates. America values its government as providing freedom while European socialist view government as guaranteeing individual needs. Freedom provides incentives for immigrants to migrate from third world countries to the United States. If America had a fertility rate of just below 2.0, America could maintain stability with just 100,000 immigrants; consequently, America is faced with over one million immigrants annually. Higher levels of migration coupled with high levels of birthrates among minorities helps add to the population growth. Unlike in European counties where the fertility rate is around 1.4 and the level of migration is insufficient to create stability regarding population growth the population of European counties is decreasing (2007 N. Eberstadt).
With a gross domestic product of 47,000 dollars in 2008, America had the leading GDP of all other counties. Now using the statics from the CIA, you can compare the GDP and fertility rates of different nations and witness a negative correlation (2009 CIA). Using macro-statistics we can show how decreased economical gain is contributing to higher birthrates. So what about individual economical differences in America? At Yale University, T. Paul Schultz wrote a paper labeled Income and Fertility, showing that higher income yields better, less ignorant children. Ignorance a I define is someone who is uneducated and/or in poverty. In his study he displayed a diagram which indicated a negative relationship correlating income with fertility concluding lower income families produce more children (T.P. Schultz 2005).
Educational difference among women is another key factor for increased fertility rates. According to a study conducted in 1994 from the National Center for Health Statistics, a womens education level is the best predictor as to how many children shell have. With women in their twenties and forties without a college degree the NCHS forecast high birthrates, while women with college degrees forecast high birthrates in their thirties. The National Center for Health Statistics states that educational attainment is a critical difference for womens fertility differences. Women with college degrees can expect to have a fertility rate around 1.7 to 2.0, women who graduated high school can expect a fertility rate of around 2.7, women with about nine to eleven years of schooling expect to have a fertility rate of 2.3, and finally, women with 8 or less years of education will have a fertility rate of 3.2 (T.J. Mathews 1994). With 72% of women in 2005 over 25 that havent obtained a bachelor degree and half with half all women being mothers; you can see the urgency of this cataclysmic problem concerning over-population (2007. U.S. Census Bureau).
Religion is a concerning factor affecting fertility rates as well. Religious people that go to church more often tend to have more offspring. With an average fertility rate for those that attended church regularly at 2.5 compared to those that never attend at a rate of 1.6, you can see a positive correlation that explains that the more religious the family is the more children they will have (Wikipedia). Comparing people who believe in God and education levels you can make a conclusion that people with higher intelligence tend to forgo religion and belief of a high being. Religion can be assumed to be absent among those with higher education, or at least subsiding. Note that eighty percent of all atheists are male and forty percent have a six-figure income (2008 C. Basinet). These statistics leads me to think that education leads to secular views with a high change to become wealthy, which by itself show characteristics for lower birthrates.
Earlier I defined ignorant people as people who are uneducated and have low-income, who as a result tend to believe in God. Ninety percent of America believes in God or a belief in an afterlife of some sort. In conclusion, ninety percent of America is ignorant. I feel that something needs to be done to defeat this, something unconstitutional but fair. I feel that we need regulations for breeding. I think restrictions on how many and who can breed should be implemented. So how can we weed out ignorance?
Licenses are needed in everything, associated with almost anything. Licenses are needed for agriculture, automotive, banking, construction, education, employment, environment, healthcare, housing, and list goes on. The solution to this religious circus is to limit the number of children someone can have, and who can breed. I not going to be Hitler on this subject and discriminate against race or color; but I will sort out the differences between pluralist people, those being education and monetary gain. I propose that we create a merit standard for persons trying to have a family based solely on education level and monetary gain. Examples of standards would suggest that women need to complete more than sixteen years of school and that a couples shared income needs to accumulate over one hundred thousand dollars. This would entail that they could birth one child. If the mother has sixteen years of education and the combined income reaches two hundred thousand then they can have two children. Finally if they both, male and female, have a required sixteen years of education each and make two hundred and fifty thousand dollars they can have three or four kids. This, in turn, will create a highly educated family, with enough money so that their children wont suffer, and since atheism is more prevalent among highly educated and wealthy persons, religion will gradually weed out.
An excerpt from Scientific American talked about lowering the global population because of the scarcity of our natural resources. It said that as nations become more advanced the amount of resources an individual will use will go up, thus increasing the amount of resources needed to support this demand. As the worlds population increases exponentially, more and more of our precious resources will be excavated from our world (J. D. Sachs 2006). We need to remember, that religion brings about an egalitarian perspective. Religious people believe that their religion is the only religion; this egocentrism thus transfers over to nature. Nature suffers from people that believe that god created them instead of believing that this beautifully abnormal accident occurred naturally. This world is something that needs to be guarded, something that needs to be respected, something real, and this something needs our protection. By reducing fertility rates we kill two birds with one stone. First we reduce the amount of resources needed to sustain a civilization and we say good riddance to the antagonistic form of nature, the falsehoods of stories built on astrology, the egotistical prowess of ignorance, Organized Religion.
Bibliography
(1) Birth and Fertility Rates by Educational Attainment: United States, 1994," by T. J. Mathews and Stephanie J. Ventura. 1997. April 28, 2009. [National</a> Center for Health Statistics Mother’s Educational Level Influences Birth Rate -<a href=“2”>/url</a> Lower Fertility: a Wise Investment. Jeffrey D. Sachs is director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and of the U.N. Millennium Project. September 2006 Scientific American Magazine. April 28, 2009. [url=<a href=“http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=lower-fertility-a-wise-in]Lower”>Lower Fertility: a Wise Investment | Scientific American]Lower</a> Fertility: a Wise Investment: Scientific American<a href=“3”>/url</a> Fertility and Income. T. Paul Schultz. Yale University. October 2005. April 28, 2009. <a href=“http://www.econ.yale.edu/growth_pdf/cdp925.pdf[/url]”>http://www.econ.yale.edu/growth_pdf/cdp925.pdf](<a href=“Adoption | Adopting.org”>Adoption | Adopting.org)</a>
(4) Women’s History Month: March 2007. U.S. Census Bureau. March 2007. April 28, 2009. [US</a> Census Press Releases<a href=“5”>/url</a> Why atheism is a rich mans world - and how we can change it. Edger, making the new Atheism sexier. Chris Basinet. Aug 14th, 2008. April 28, 2009. [url=<a href=“http://theedger.org/2008/08/14/feminism/]Why”>http://theedger.org/2008/08/14/feminism/]Why</a> atheism is a rich man’s world - and how we can change it. | Edger<a href=“6”>/url</a> License Types, Forms & Requirements. The Official Website of the Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation (OCABR). 2009 Commonwealth of Massachusetts. April 28, 2009. [url=<a href=“http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocatopic&L=3&sid=Eoca&L0=Home&L1=Licensee&L2=License+Types%2C+Forms+%26+Requirements]License”>http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocatopic&L=3&sid=Eoca&L0=Home&L1=Licensee&L2=License+Types%2C+Forms+%26+Requirements]License</a> Types, Forms & Requirements - Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation<a href=“7”>/url</a> Godless Science. April 28, 2009. [url=<a href=“http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Jesus/Intelligence%20&%20religion.htm]Intelligence”>http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Jesus/Intelligence%20&%20religion.htm]Intelligence</a> & Religion<a href=“8”>/url</a> The World Factbook. CIA. 23 April 2009. April 28, 2009. <a href=“https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html#People[/url]”>https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html#People](<a href=“http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/009383.html]US”>http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/009383.html)</a>
(9) America the Fertile. The Washington Post. Nicholas Eberstadt. May 6, 2007. April 28, 2009. [Nicholas</a> Eberstadt - America the Fertile - washingtonpost.com<a href=“10”>/url</a> Four Surprises in Global Demography. FPRI. Nicholas Eberstadt. July 2004. April 28, 2009. [url=<a href=“http://www.fpri.org/ww/0505.200407.eberstadt.demography.html]Watch”>http://www.fpri.org/ww/0505.200407.eberstadt.demography.html]Watch</a> on the West: Four Surprises in Global Demography - FPRI<a href=“11”>/url</a> Demographic-economic paradox. Wikipedia. April 28, 2009. [url=<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic-economic_paradox]Demographic-economic”>Income and fertility - Wikipedia]Demographic-economic</a> paradox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/04/AR2007050401891.html?hpid=opinionsbox2]Nicholas”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/04/AR2007050401891.html?hpid=opinionsbox2)</p>
<p>Bumping this for the 2014 class since the new prompts are out, just to give examples of the crazy kind of writing expected on these essays. Make no mistake, this essay is probably the single most important part of your essay when applying to U of C. So, no pressure ;).</p>
<p>Good luck and give it a good go!</p>
<p>I like Option 1… I think people are going to start talking about their various arrests and tickets.</p>
<h1>321 is really good. I can’t help but feel like relying on my essay for admissions is futile if that guy got deferred…</h1>
<p>bump’d for inspiration! :)</p>
<p>Ah, I’m so ready to read this year’s!!!</p>
<p>Why UChicago essay:</p>
<p>I could talk about the renowned professors, not to mention the 82 Nobel Laureates, including the most recent Nobel Prize winner, Yoichiro Nambu. I could rave about the wonderful reputation that the University of Chicago has of being known as the Life of the Mind. I could secretly feel proud of the unofficial yet infamous motto, “Where Fun Goes to Die,” or live up to the true meaning of education. I could fervently agree with the true motto, “Crescat scientia; vita excolatur,” believing that I myself will always be searching, reaching, and still feeling content knowing that I will never grasp all knowledge. I could praise the vibrant student body, all such unique and interesting individuals, yet united here for the same purpose. I could discuss the benefits of the Common Core program and the advantages of a broad-minded education. I could attempt to describe the beautiful ivy-covered, neo-Gothic buildings, the statuesque gargoyles, and the serene atmosphere of this botanic garden university inside the busy heart of Chicago. I could admit that I have kept every single piece of mail from the University of Chicago (in glee) and have practically memorized the little book, “The Life of the Mind” (without meaning to sound obsessive or stalkerish). I could convey my gratitude for not being suppressed with a word limit on Chicago essays, allowing my verbosity, however unfortunate, to shine. I could express why I feel I would be a “good fit” for the University of Chicago and what I would contribute to the atmosphere (Don’t worry, I’m not carbon dioxide).<br>
Why UChicago? I could simply say, just because.
However, most things I have addressed come to no surprise. So, instead of telling, I will show why the University of Chicago is what I desire and how I imagine it.</p>
<pre><code>“…and now back to some more music from WHPK 88.5 FM, your own University of Chicago community radio sta—”
I fumble for the snooze button, and vaguely hear a thud as my all too loyal clock radio crashes to the floor. Whoops, there goes another alarm clock… Yawning, I pull the pillow back over my head and shut my eyes tight.
I hear the sound of footsteps approaching, a little louder than needed… and a muffled voice calls out, “Melissa? Melissa! What are you doing still in bed?!”
“Five more minutes, Liz,” I tell my roommate groggily, still hiding my face beneath the oh-so-soft and plush pillow. “You know I was up late last night working on my Plato paper…”
“Well, don’t you have a Humanities class at 10:30? Just thought you’d like to know that it’s a quarter past 10…”
“WHAT?!?! OH MY GOSH, LIZ, WHY DIDN’T YOU WAKE ME?!!” I exclaim as I scramble out of my bed…
…I shuffle out of the “Philosophical Perspectives” class, aware of the buzzing of discussion that still continues after the end of the class.
“So, I think it’s a combination of nature and nurture during growth development. I mean, sure, the unique environments we live in affect us, but our own genetics must play a part too. What do you think, Melissa?” asks Wilson.
“I think we can continue this conversation during lunch. I’m starving! You wanna meet at the Reynolds Club? It’s Wednesday and you know what that means…dollar shakes at the C-Shop!”…
… “Melissa! Over here! I’m open!”
Turning, I see Brad waving his arms frantically across the green expanse of grass that once brought millions of visitors during the World’s Fair. I toss the Frisbee with all my might, but unfortunately, it doesn’t go very far as it’s intercepted by a player from the opposing team.
“Brad, I thought you said you were open.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I didn’t see that guy coming.”
“Like you ever do!” I laugh. “Oh but hey- mind finding a substitute for me? I want to check out the new exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago.
“Alright, have fun then. Are you coming back for the Green Campus Initiative meeting?”…
…All around us, the music pulses in our ears and our hearts seem to swing to the rhythmic beat of the University Symphony Orchestra. The music crescendos to a powerful finale and still resonates in our heads as we cheer wildly.
“That was amazing!!” yells Madison over the applause.
I can only nod back, unable to find the words that express how awe-inspiring the concert was…
…The smell of tomato sauce, melted cheese, and all the workings of a true deep-dish Chicago style pizza wafts through the air. A collective “ooh” is heard as the large pizza slices are passed around. We sit scattered around the room, a diverse group of individuals brought together by the guilty pleasure of eating pizza for a midnight snack.
“Giordano’s makes the best pizza in the whole world.”
“But it’s so greasy! I must have gained 20 pounds so far.”
“You know, we used to have our own pizzeria in Italy.”
“Wow, you all are so quirky… how did the admissions people find you guys?”…
…The evening breeze raises goose bumps along my arms, but I hardly notice as I walk by the ivy covered buildings. I find the spot that solidified my decision to apply to the University of Chicago the first time I visited; it is a landmark that hears all thoughts yet speaks in silence. I walk into the stone paved circle and stand completely still, right in the center. I close my eyes and smile, feeling as if I finally have control of my own life, my future. I can now distinctly hear the rustling of the trees and the soft sigh of the wind as it sweeps around me.
</code></pre>
<p>I whisper.
And all around me my own words, “I love it here,” echoes back…</p>
<p>^omg I did the same exact style of essay for Why Stanford last year! It worked for me ;)</p>
<p>Haha that’s awesome!
Unfortunately, this style didn’t quite work for me as I got waitlisted from UChicago… 
But it’s okay now, still wanted to share it for the class of 2014!</p>
<p>My Why Chicago I wrote 3 hours before the deadline O.o
Apparently, they liked it ^.^</p>
<p>Nine out of every ten of my friends are absolutely obsessed with one equivocal mathematical figurethe percent sign. As much as it pains me to say, grades have taken ahold of their lives. Too many copy homework and grovel for extra credit just to sustain their GPAs. Too many fake sick just to gain insider knowledge on tests they miss. These classmates lack what I hold so dear, what the University of Chicago promotes so highly: the explorative spirit. They have no yearning for learning other than what is graded and even that they do not discover. As much as I love my school and my friends, I can not help but despise this degradation of schooling.</p>
<p>I find myself with a very different mindset. Certainly, grades are important, but to me, points have always been the product, not the cause, of my efforts. What wakes me up every morning is not the burden of quizzes and grading curves, but rather the prospect of learning something applicable and doing as much as I can to understand it thoroughly. I believe that the University of Chicago will introduce me to an environment where others awake with the same aspiration.</p>
<p>My whole high school career has been sustained by my nature to explore both the intellectual and recreational opportunities that are in front of me. I am the inquisitor who reads textbooks over the summer not because it is assigned, but because it is fun. I am the lab partner who takes his time to understand exactly why he is performing each step of an experiment; not the one who hastily rushes through and later augments unfavorable data. I am the explorer who wonders what can be learned from the performing arts, and tries out for a play. The one who wonders what insight math team can provide, and finds it to be substantial. I am the hankerer who wants to know everything, yet realizes there are not enough years in a lifetime.</p>
<p>This is why I wish to make the absolute most of the few undergraduate years we are given. After visiting, I now know that every day at the University of Chicago will be one of great exploration, both intellectual and introspective. The university will challenge me more than I have ever been before, but I will not mind. I will not be able to wait to go to class every day, for I will be among the greatest minds in the world and staunchly taking the strides to becoming one. A campus, in the best city in the world, full of world-acclaimed professors and erudite graduate students, who do what they do for the love of enlightenment, will offer me the opportunity to question and debate any topic at anytime I wish. With gusto, I will take advantage of this opportunity.</p>
<p>The Core and the quarter system will give me the opportunity to gleefully dabble in more subjects than most other universities. What I rigorously learn there will expand my understanding of the world just so I may try to challenge it later. For, I want to go to a university where people are not afraid to play devils advocate or explore avant-garde ideas. I want to go where young minds go to build upon the past and progress onward. Where students and professors think beyond what is written and explore the foundations of all understanding. This is what I envision the most rewarding education that anyone can receive to be. This is what I envision as the University of Chicago, and I can imagine myself nowhere else.</p>
<p>Common App Essay:</p>
<p>The hardest decision I ever made kept returning to me. As much as I tried to put it out of my mind and justify my reaction, the same scenario repeated itself in a seemingly endless procession. That decision was whether or not to give money to beggars.
In Bangladesh, where I spent my sophomore and junior years, beggars are (understandably) drawn to the diplomatic area of the capital city, Dhaka. This means that when I left home, be it a trip to school, to the store, or to a restaurant, the prospect of meeting a beggar was nearly inevitable. The beggars ranged from starving mothers with naked babies, to the elderly, to people whose deformities are difficult to imagine, let alone describe.
I remember the first day I arrived in Dhaka. On the way in from the airport I was told various stories about how most of the beggars gave their money to local crime lords, and about how mothers sometimes cripple and maim their children to make them more pitiable in the eyes of the wealthy. These were fine rationalizations for not giving, but they left me unprepared for my first encounter with a beggar.
With somebody so far away from me in terms of wealth and general well-being standing inches away demanding what seemed like a pittance, the concept of a decision did not register. Rather, I felt excruciatingly aware of who I was and where I was coming from. Suddenly, I recognized not only that I came from the wealthiest nation on earth, but also that my ways of thinking and perspectives on life in general emanated from one privileged locus. For the first encounter I was too paralyzed from the combination of jetlag and self-realizations to make any decision; I refused by default and could only wait until the decision recurred again.
Between that experience and the next, however, I had time to think. The horror stories kept popping into my head; was it wrong to give to a beggar if the money was just going to encourage more maiming and abuse? Or did the simple act of giving to someone so helpless justify any possible negative consequence further down the road? These questions made me less sure of what to do, and caused a sense of powerlessness. As I made friends in Dhaka, I found that most of them regarded the local beggars as beyond help; therefore, to them, giving was essentially pointless.
I began to believe this, but still the simple act of refusing kept coming back, both in reality and in my thoughts. This is not to say I was completely haunted by that one decision. I was able to function normally with friends and at school. What bothered me was the baseness of the scenario: a hand outstretched being met with nothing but justifications for why the other hand should remain closed.
As time went on in Dhaka, the beggars got farther and farther away in my mind. I still experienced the same intense self-consciousness in the moment of decision. However, I started to do what many others did; forget about the trouble after the fact. My mental removal from the situation not only enhanced a disconnect from reality on my part, but also a disconnect from their circumstances, effectively desensitizing me. Although I still felt powerless at each encounter, once it was over, I went on living as though it hadn’t affected me.<br>
I did not fully realize why I never gave until I left Bangladesh. Upon arriving in the USA during the summer between Junior and Senior year, I thought I had completely forgotten about the beggars and the troubling questions my encounters with them raised. I was just happy to be back in my home country. This all changed when, walking down the street, I was once again faced with that ubiquitous outstretched hand – only this time its owner was speaking in English, asking for spare change. I experienced the same bewilderment that I had experienced in Dhaka; only this time it had a different feel. Now, not only could I understand the beggar, but I could also comprehend the culture from which he originated. I had never thought that I could experience the same situation in my home country. What I felt was not a sense of overwhelming pity, but rather something much closer to compassion. I met his outstretched hand with some spare change.
It took me a while to figure out exactly why I gave in America but not in Dhaka. The beggars in Dhaka are so unimaginably impoverished and so incredibly far from any modicum of wealth that the scale of their need went beyond my capacity for empathy at the time. Simply put, they were just too much for me to relate to; I could not feel for them, I could only feel about them. When I returned to the States, the same hand was outstretched, but the body behind it seemed nourished and the voice lacked the same desperation. I was surprised and, to be honest, somewhat ashamed that I was able to feel compassion for the American beggar that I did not experience in Dhaka. I began to understand how little I know about why I think what I do, and how I react to the world around me.
But, in a larger sense, my time in Bangladesh taught me how little I do know, and how little I can know about anything. In coming to terms with the idea of the beggar and myself, I realized how much havoc it played with my emotions, reason, and self-perception. Because of the difficulty of the decisions, both in America and in Bangladesh, I now treat my views as fluid and contingent, not only on perspective, but also on experience. Was it right to give? Was it wrong? In a sense, I feel like I took a small step in learning that I cannot know.</p>
<p>Question 5: (As Was Posed in an Application for Admission to the University of Chicago)
What is the difference between turkey (the bird) and Turkey (the nation)? Please be only slightly specific.</p>
<p>From my most recent American History class I remember how my teacher used to call people who did foolish things turkeys . William Seward was a turkey for a little while, until we found the oil reserve. President Hoover was a turkey, depending on who you asked. I always thought that was funny, especially when I brought to mind how Benjamin Franklin had compared the eagle used on American insignia to the plumage of a turkey, and how he had declared that the turkey was an incredibly respectable bird. Nobody else seemed to notice this except for Franklin, because we can still find that wretched eagle that he had found so deplorable on most of our money. When you read Franklin’s letter to his daughter concerning this issue, it seems to be in bad taste, on America’s part, to have overlooked that turkey. </p>
<p>In further regard to the bird I can honestly say that turkeys are probably very adept at many things but I would know very little of such activities. I have never met a turkey. </p>
<p>Upon meeting my first Turk, however, I spotted a great difference between the Eurasian and the flightless bird. He was a co-worker of mine at an amusement park. Everybody who works there has their place of origin printed on a small beige name tag. Mine said Virginia. His said Turkey.</p>
<p>T-u-r-k-i-y-e, actually. </p>
<p>There were many Turks, and he wasn’t the only one I worked with, but the first I happened to smile at. The company that owns the amusement park has a work-study program overseas, and every summer, college students from Russia, Poland, China, wherever, flock over to the small town of Williamsburg to work alongside American high school students as they supervise ring toss players and buckle in thrill-seekers onto dangerous roller coasters. </p>
<p>Turkiye smiled back at me in the same way that I had smiled at him, and although his name tag country was new to me I recognized a sense of brotherhood between us. He proceeded to introduce himself: Iyi geceler. Ben Dogukan. Naber? </p>
<p>He thought I was Turkish. It was an easy mistake I guess. We wore the same uniform, and our skin was about the same shade of caramel. I excused myself for not understanding. He laughed, restated his phrase in well-practiced English. His name was Dogukan and whats up? We got along well from there on out. It seemed like every night he and I would go to the housing where the international students lived, to observe the vibrant culture that had suddenly emigrated, almost by divinity, to this bland little town. What appeared to me like an obtrusion on my part - it is no worry, you are a guest; Turkish people love our guests like they are cousins, Dogukan always said - became, in time, a nightly reunion of family. </p>
<p>I taught my new Turkish friends how to play Rock Paper Scissors and introduced the bravest of their pack to sushi. They, in turn, had me learn basic Turkce, my colors and numbers and how to ask for tea. They begged me for CDs of Avril Lavigne and Pink to take home to their siblings, to whom Western music was legendary, and I gladly obliged - along with CDs from The Doors, Andrew Bird and Radiohead. I played soccer, badly, and taught them how to say I love you and I do not want to work today in Spanish. I discussed with them the life of a global student, the ingredients of baklava, the rules of baseball, the difficulties of learning a new language. They began to call themselves Turkeys. I never called them Turkeys. It didnt seem right.</p>
<p>I was doing the work of an American ambassador, but I felt like an eager young immigrant to this foreign culture. I called Dogukan abim. It means, in Turkce, brother.</p>
<p>Having to quit work for school, and consequently quit my new dwelling amongst the Turks, became somewhat frustrating. Dogukan promised me that when I came to visit Turkey someday, should I contact him, he would be my personal tour guide around Istanbul. This vow held little to assuage what qualms I had, however, about leaving home. I found myself speaking slowly to my friends and family, which they found amusing. Tea had lost its flavor once I had to switch from Turkish black to English. </p>
<p>In short, I was feeling awfully, awfully homesick.</p>
<p>The most painful part, maybe, was conversation. I talked to friends about Turkiye and Turks and Turkish things of no real specification and they nodded along, but knew very little with which to facilitate the conversation. It seemed strange to me that, as beautiful, rich and warm as this culture is, it is not contemporarily marveled at in the way that we are dazzled by Parisian society, which lent to us the Statue of Liberty, or the people of Italy, whose architecture and cuisine is commonplace in large cities (though surely lovely nonetheless). It would seem, I suppose, that Turkiye hadnt given America much to talk about recently, and so the magnificence of the Taurus Mountains and the native dance of southern Turkiye, the kolbasti, would be lost upon the world. </p>
<p>I promised Dogukan, abim, I wouldnt let that happen. I talk about Turkiye today like a faraway dream place. People question my passion for the country, and I reply meagerly with what can be explained with words. My fascination surpasses what most Americans consider logical for a person who is not of Turkish descent, but most Americans have never shared a loaf of bread with a Turk. </p>
<p>I guess when we get right down to it, turkeys and Turkiye share the distinction of being well-intentioned, respectable entities; both admirable, both overlooked.</p>
<p>EA’ed and accept’d. 
good luck to RD!</p>
<p>I can’t find that the one I submitted (I think I trashed it, but I forget), but I found the one with a bunch of random and disorganized paragraphs (aka the rough draft) with incomplete and (some) incompetent ideas that ended up having to be cut like 1500 words. But, ya, my final one only had like 700 words and was lacking 60% of the content found in here (including the conclusion). </p>
<p>Question: From game theory to Ultimate Frisbee to the great Chicago Scavenger Hunt, we at the University of Chicago take games seriously. We bet you do, too. Even if “just a game,” sport, play, and other kinds of games seem to share at the very least an insistence that we take seriously a set of rules entirely peculiar to the circumstance of the game. You might say, in order to play a game we must take it seriously. Think playfully-or play thoughtfully-about games: how they distract us or draw us into the world, create community and competition, tease us and test us with stakes both set apart from and meaningful to everyday life. Don’t tell us about The Big Game; rather, tell us about players and games.</p>
<p>Everything that is anything is a game. The structure of this very essay and the language spoken in it conform to the language-game of English. If I do not take this game seriously then the referees of the game of admissions to the University of Chicago may not take me seriously. If I were to write as though I hadn’t learned how to create coherent sentences or as though I hadn’t the slightest clue of any grammar rules, then would it not seem as though I was not taking the game of admissions seriously? Surely, if I want to reach a specific end, this time being admission to the University of Chicago, then I must take the game seriously. Now, let the game begin.</p>
<p>What are we to say of games such as soccer, Scrabble, basketball, or Call of Duty? Most people simply retort to people who take these games too seriously that they are forgetting that it’s “just a game” and therefore shouldn’t care much for it. Yet how does that conclusion follow from the fact that something is “just a game?” If I am playing a video game and one of the players is goofing off and thereby ruining the game can the person goofing off simply retort to me when I ask him to stop that it’s “just a game?” Is not the fact that she decided to play this game instead of all the other games she could have played sufficient reasoning for taking it seriously? No one is forcing us to play this or that game and if each game has its own specified set of rules, then do we not, by the mere fact that we chose to play the game, tacitly consent to playing according to the rules of the game and taking the game seriously? Of course, the objection that could be said here is simple: What if we chose to play the game so that we could not take it seriously (are we even still playing that game?)?</p>
<p>This objection does not necessarily lead to the complete negation of the thesis propounded in the previous paragraph, but it certainly makes it necessary to expand upon it. What is the point of a game? It is obvious that a game is something that has a set of rules that govern it, but is not the end of a game set by the motivations of the players? Is not the community formed or the competition instigated dependent upon the ends of the players in the game (as well as the nature of the game and the strictness of the rules)? Take an example of the players on a soccer team. There are the forwards, the midfielders, the defenders, and the goalie, but are they each playing the same game? Surely they are not. For each position has its own end, its own particular game. The forward is playing the game of scoring, while the defender is playing the game of defending her goal from the ball. Don’t think, but look. Look at what each player does in each position, and tell me if they are playing the same game. Each player in each position has a different goal, and without each player winning her own specific game, the game of the whole team becomes closer to being lost. But what if the motivation for one of the players is to goof off as much as possible? What if all she wants to do is play the ball to the opposing forward on the top of the penalty box? Surely if she could get the ball, then she would easily be able to win at her game, but is she playing soccer? Is she playing the game of a position in soccer? She herself is not playing the game of her position, but is she not part of a team which has a collective goal? Each player plays her individual game, but at the same time the individual games end up being the game of soccer and if one individual does not play their individual game with the intended goal of their game (being attempting to ‘win’ the game of their position) then each other game suffers greatly. Each person may have a different goal, separate from the goals of the game or the position, for playing soccer. For instance, some may play forward to simply have fun, some may play as defenders in order to win the game and gain some personal pride, or some may play midfield in order to run a lot and get in better shape. Whatever the personal end is, by agreeing to play a game of soccer the people form a sort of overlapping consensus in that they tacitly agree that they will attempt to play the game of their position to the best of their ability, but they will all do so for reasons that may be different than every other player on the field. </p>
<p>If we were, then, to examine the situation of the player who only wants to play the ball to the opposing team, we would see that her game is incompatible with those of all the other players on her team. But what comes of this? For it should be obvious that she may be ruining the games of her teammates, but is that allowed? The previous discussion should affirm that it is not. For, from the previous discussion, we can break up the concept of a game into three parts: primary game, a secondary game, and a personal game. The relationship between them is simple. The personal game is simply the game that the individual wants to play, or the end that the individual wants to gain from playing the specific game, while the secondary game is the actual game being played by each individual: namely, the game of the position that they are meant to play. The primary game is what we come to know as the game of soccer which is the game that is composed of all the individual games of each of the individual players. No one plays the game of soccer, but each secondary game has embedded in it some part of the game of soccer (the primary game is the composition of the component secondary games). If there is no match between the personal game and the secondary game, though, then that person is not part of the primary game. Since a soccer team can only be formed through an overlapping consensus between the players on a team to play their secondary game, it comes that when one person does not play her secondary game then she actually negates the very reasoning behind being on the soccer team and hence it is not allowed for the player to blatantly break the rules of the position. </p>
<p>The distinction between primary and secondary games can also be applied to the rules of the games. The primary rules of a game are those that are the rules in the ‘rule book’ that the referee is meant to enforce. On the other hand, secondary rules are not enforceable, per se, but rather define what game it is that we are playing and determine whether or not we will win our game. For instance, if a defender were to go up and attempt to score but never drop back and help out on defense, then the teammates of the defender will get angry because the defender has broken a secondary rule of her position (hence has the lost the game that she was supposed to play for the team). While she may still be playing soccer because she is attempting to win the game of another position, she is breaking her secondary rule which was set when she consented to play on the team and play as defender. Secondary rules are, to some extent, set by the nature of the game, the player (and their ends) in the game, and even the result of the cooperation of all the players of the game. Since the result of the cooperation and the conditions of the players in the game are constantly changing, it is possible to break up secondary rules from mere ‘rules of the game’ to ‘rules of the game at this time with these players’ as the secondary rules of the game have no constant rules. The outside midfielder may not be able to cross the ball in from the left side of the field because she can only make a good cross with her right foot and hence as a general rule attempts to not take the ball down the left side of the field in order to cross it. This example would be a case where the secondary rules are made due to the nature of the player that is playing that is playing the position at that time. Or, certain people on a team have developed certain skills or will be in this condition that will allow them to do such and such, and therefore the secondary rules of the rest of the team (and this player) may significantly change. It would come, following these distinctions, that in order to play a game we must take it seriously as if we break all the rules and only play our personal game, not the secondary game, then we are not playing the game that we would claim that we were not taking seriously. It would become a very contradiction to say that one does not take this game seriously as the very playing of the game, within its limits, implies its being taken seriously. The very nature of the game defines the players of the game. </p>
<p>What are we to make, then, of the people who say that “everyone is a winner here” even after one team has lost and one team has won a game? Perhaps what this is meant to say is that the primary game of the team as a whole may have been lost and perhaps even every single player lost her secondary game, but the personal game of each player had been won and in any non-competitive game (non-competitive in that the game itself may still be competitive in its nature, but the game is not part of any greater competition such as a league or tournament) that suffices for everyone to be a winner. It does not hold true for all games, and neither do some of the previous comments. For instance, there is no constant distinction between primary and secondary games or rules in individual, non-cooperative games such as Battleship or tennis even though it is still possible for this distinction to be noticeable (even though it may be more of a personal rule or game). For instance, a tennis player may attempt to have a rally for at least fifteen seconds before attempting to win the point (a secondary game) or may try not to go to the net because she is weak there (a secondary rule). Nonetheless, now that the definition of what a game is has become clear, it is now necessary to speak of their use and prevalence in our lives. </p>
<p>What good are games? Do they help create healthy competition or a sense of community? Of course, a great number of answers could be given to this answer, but is there a single correct answer? Surely not as the amount of competition and the sense of community can only be set by the personal and secondary games being played. Different people playing different games will end up with a different amount of each. The very nature of each game will inevitably lead to varying levels of competition and community, if any at all. Some players will be extremely competitive, while some will simply play for the enjoyment and the social nature of the game. Some games will strive for cooperation, while some will strive for deceit and some paranoia (prisoner’s dilemma anyone?). Some players playing the same primary game may, even if they would be identical in all other respects, receive differing amounts of each due to the differing nature of their secondary games. To simply give one answer to such a question would necessarily generalize to a degree where nothing of any meaning could truly be said.
Another question that could be asked of games is as to what extent they tease and test us with stakes both set apart from and meaningful to everyday life. Yet how can it be that games are set apart from everyday life while at the same time meaningful to it? In order to be meaningful to something doesn’t that thing have to be a part of it? Or perhaps a better question to ask is as to what games can be set apart from everyday life. The games that define the world can’t be set apart from everyday life, but perhaps the main point is to those games that are not always part of everyday life. Yet even then how can we say that the game of soccer is set apart from the everyday life of a soccer player? Is not soccer part of his everyday life (does soccer then not become a ‘game’ because he plays it everyday, and if it is not one then do we still call him a soccer player?)? If not, then what makes that part of his life different than any other part of his life? When he watches television or reads a book or goes for a walk, are those set apart from everyday life as well? When he kicks any object and puts it through any area that is shaped like a soccer goal, or simply does a simple kicking motion is he playing a game? What is it about a game such as soccer that sets it apart from everyday life? If we were to attempt to guess as to what a person was doing through the means of someone relaying to us the actions of the person (and only the person) by a walkie-talkie, then we would almost never be able to guess what that person is doing. At first this may seem odd, but look into the situation further. The fact that the walkie-talkie relays to us that such and such is swinging is a bat it remains an open question as to what he is doing. He could be at the plate in a baseball game or in the on-deck circle. He could be practicing with his father, or he could just be swinging for no reason. He could be attempting to break open a pi</p>
<p>Reading these makes me feel like Chicago is the only school I would feel secure in telling that I have E. Coli plushes. haha</p>
<p>I want an E. Coli plush!</p>
<p>I WORKED EXTREMELY HARD ON THIS SO IF ANYONE STEALS IT I WILL BE REALLY MAD!
Ok now that that’s over with, I chose to make my own topic. Here goes! Let me know what you think! I got in EA, btw. :)</p>
<ol>
<li>Author John Mason once said, “You were born an original. Don’t die a copy.” We at the University of Chicago seek individuality to distinguish among our thousands of highly qualified applicants. Write a personal statement in which you answer the following questions: What defines you? How are you unique? What makes you….you? </li>
</ol>
<p>Who are you? No really, who are you?</p>
<p>I am…
an enigmatic paradox.</p>
<p>I am an intricate set of brain cells, somas, and neurotransmitters.</p>
<p>I am a holistic being who offers a vibrant personality in addition to many intellectual pursuits.</p>
<p>I am…
the brother of a sister,
the son of two parents,
and the favorite cousin of curious 12-year-old. </p>
<p>I am ambitious, always striving for the best, yet fun-loving and spontaneous.</p>
<p>I am a high school student, yet I have taken college-level classes.</p>
<p>I am a comedian, who enjoys making other people laugh but is also able to tell when to be serious.</p>
<p>I have ties to Toronto, Beijing, and ***<strong><em>, South Carolina. Yet where do I live? I currently reside in </em></strong>. </p>
<p>I am someone who enjoys obtaining concrete answers, but upon receiving these answers asks ever more questions.</p>
<p>I am a person who believes that nothing worth having does, can, or should come easily.
Yet, I have been blessed with many opportunities.</p>
<p>I am a fighter. No, not physically, but mentally, because though failures often have me disheartened, they only push me to put forth even more effort.</p>
<p>People often say you are what you eat. Well if that is the case, then I am sushi, Mexican tacos, sweet and sour chicken, curry rice, blueberries, and fast food among others. Next year<br>
when I travel to France, I would like to try being escargot. </p>
<p>When presented with two distinct paths, I would like, in the words of Robert Frost, to take the one less travelled by.</p>
<p>Yet, I want to take one that has been thoroughly explored.</p>
<p>I hope to, one day, be a person who will make profound contributions to our society.
However, in spite of my goal, I don’t necessarily need fame or extravagant wealth.</p>
<p>In terms of intellect and goals, I have been completely reformed. But on the surface, I am still the same person, the same human being, as when I first set foot into the world. </p>
<p>I am a scholar, an athlete, a guitarist, as well as much more. </p>
<p>I am none of these things, yet I am all three.</p>
<p>I work as an unskilled worker, earning a modest minimum wage for scooping ice cream.</p>
<p>Yet, several local families value my academic skills and pay me three times minimum wage to tutor their children.</p>
<p>I am (my name): a (my school) (school mascot) aspiring to one day to be a University of Chicago Phoenix. </p>
<p>I am college-bound.</p>
<p>I am proud.</p>
<p>I am determined.</p>
<p>I am an extremely idiosyncratic paradox.</p>
<p>Oddly enough, people generally find that I can easily be understood.</p>
<p>I am who I am.</p>
<p>I am me.</p>
<p>I am…</p>
<pre><code>_________________
(fill in the blank)
</code></pre>
<p>Edit: WOW I just read through a few pages of your essays, they are INCREDIBLE!</p>
<p>I also loved Drownergurl’s why chicago essay (post 244).
Here, I’ll post two other essays as well that got me in. BUT SERIOUSLY DO NOT TAKE THESE!!! I SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THEM!</p>
<p>The Book with the Most Profound Impact on Me
Through the power of some of my favorite books such as George Orwell’s Nineteen-Eighty-Four and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, I have travelled through time, lived in the wild, and experienced other cultures. However, out of all the books I have immersed myself in, whether from school reading lists or simply for pleasure, few stick out in my mind more so than Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. I have never travelled to a third-world country, but Hosseini allowed me to experience Afghanistan through the power of the written word. The Kite Runner revealed to me a world drastically different from my own, one plagued with widespread poverty and invasions from other nations. For those days that I was reading the book I was Amir: my mansion was destroyed in a seemingly arbitrary act, my neighbors were being killed off one by one simply for disagreeing with authority, and I travelled the perilous journey from Afghanistan to Pakistan to the United States simply for a chance at having a successful life free from persecution. Before reading this novel, I had never thought twice about the adversity manifesting itself in nations located in Africa or the Middle East. But for those few days, after mentally living under such difficult conditions, I started to become aware of how truly blessed I am, being born into an educated family, having a decent family income, and having the opportunity to attend college. I strongly believe that if I am able to one day share my good fortune with just one person in need, then everything I have worked so hard to accomplish will be worth it.</p>
<p>Let me know what you think!</p>
<p>Shouldn’t we wait to post essays AFTER the Jan 1st deadline so that regular decision applicants don’t randomly Google search their essay topic and find yours and hijack it?</p>
<p>HonorsCentaur. I actually got to read your why chicago essay before you deleted it and I really liked it. I really like the option 5 essay as well. Creative, original, thoughtful, etc. Congrats on getting in, with those essays you truly deserved it.</p>
<p>^^wow thank you so much, I appreciate it.</p>