<p>I guess since the deadline is past for both EA and Regular Decision, and essay topics are unlikely to be recycled, it will do no harm to post mine. I created my own prompt (Option 5): [EDIT: I got accepted EA]</p>
<p>“Find dx/dt.”</p>
<pre><code>To find x is to solve a problem. Thus, finding x within the larger context of life means to indicate a real-life problem and to find or conjecture its solution. For convenience, many choose to alter the semantics: the solution becomes a “dream,” and the problem (the absence of the dream’s fulfillment) is usually assumed. However, such dreams can suffer great change, even over small amounts of time. In few cases do specific dreams persist for years, even fewer for decades. Therefore, accurate analysis of someone’s character and essential motives requires a subtler metric: the direction in which that person’s aspirations shift over time. Extending the mathematical analogy, such a “direction” can be expressed as dx/dt, the change of x with respect to time. Personally, I can identify a theme of dreams within my own life: the continual refinement of the desire to connect ideas.
Although my early goals consisted mostly of basic and instinctive desires, my fascination with connections set me apart, even as a child. While my brothers and peers contented themselves with candy and stand-alone toys, I persistently sought after durable toys which retained complete compatibility with each other. Although similar desires are surely present in the minds of all children (as evidenced by the success of Legos, etc.), mine seemed to have been greater in degree; the very notion that I could create something original out of these combinations fascinated me. In my young eyes, almost everything worth knowing seemed to have an ancient answer; I saw no new frontier; thus, I married the creativity offered in these toys to youthful romanticism. As I grew, I began to channel this impractical idealism to academic subjects, where meaningful and useful connections abounded all the more.
In elementary school, I met many brave new ideas, some of which profoundly altered my goals to come. Needless to say, the ideas which interested me tended to reside in my science books, and, as time progressed, I began to admire the physical sciences above all others. Despite the inherent superficiality of scientific explanations proffered in primary school, I still gleaned several meaningful connections. For instance, even oversimplified kinetic theory connected the mechanics of nature’s essential particles to the movement of elastic balls on a macroscopic scale. The abundance of similar scientific models began to inhabit my mind, and soon enough I yearned to contribute to physical science. I held over-detailed dreams of my future as a nuclear engineer, astronomer, or electrical engineer. Although my x found no firm ground in these years, my dx/dt held fairly constant: I continued to delight in purer and purer webs of ideas.
When I dreamt of connections in the physical sciences, I regarded mathematics as merely a tool to relieve the imagination; however, I promptly discarded this view upon my entrance into high school. As I read elegant proofs in my freshman geometry class, the purity and relevance of each statement enthralled me. Every step of the proof fit more perfectly than any toy and proved truer than any physical model. Perhaps most fascinating about mathematics, I found, was the fact that true and useful statements could be found using nothing more than a pen, a piece of paper, and a good bit of creativity. Independent mathematical discoveries in my freshman study hall further solidified this realization. Indeed, without outside instruction, I discovered the square root of i and the half-angle theorem; two original proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem followed about a year afterwards. Although insignificant in the scheme of mathematics, these discoveries gave me a glimpse of freer and cleverer connections. I began to dream of a future career in mathematics, and the grand trend of my aspirations again settled in a realm better suited for connections.
At this time, I still hold dreams of achieving something of merit within mathematics. Considering the hitherto enumerated experiences, however, my dreams may evolve to admire another field of study or expertise. That is, my x may still change in the future. Luckily, though, my dx/dt remains fairly constant: if I do change x, I will do so by setting my heart on a purer system of connections. As much as I disbelieve it, I may find that another major resonates more harmoniously with my essential motive. Fortunately, the University of Chicago provides an ideal environment in which my dreams can grow and develop without artificial restraint; this fact, even by itself, would warrant matriculation. At this school, I could potentially fall in love with nuclear physics, chemistry, or even biology and still graduate with competitive proficiency in the major and a prestigious degree. If, however, my x has permanently rested upon mathematics; if I continue to delight in the search for mathematical patterns; Chicago gives me unlimited room to express myself, especially since its mathematics department is ranked among the top in the nation. Whatever my future yields, I hope to spend many years of meaningful education at the University of Chicago, whose assistance can help me approach my x (even if x slightly changes from time to time.)
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