College 101
What matters to you, and why?
The Prompt
What matters to you, and why?
The Essay
Intro
A few hundred years ago, it wasn't unusual for a person to live and die in a single twenty-mile stretch of land. There are places on earth where the same is true today. We even grow complacent within the borders of our own countries. Two thirds of Americans don't have a passport, indicating no immediate ability or desire to travel beyond their borders.
The symbolism is easy to see. "Thinking outside the box" is a common idiom used to express the idea of breaking free of old ways of thinking. In a real sense, the walls of the box are the borders of thought. Moving past those barriers is considered not only a good thing, but a necessary thing.
Yet the same is not true of travel. I disagree. I could have stayed in my home country to study, but I chose instead to apply internationally. I wanted to place myself as far from my comfort zone. In a real sense, I wanted to not just think outside the box, but exist entirely outside it. This is a vital frame of reference for an increasingly global world.
Body
That we exist in a global society, connected by the internet. For many, this is an excuse to stay put. After all, you can play video games with your friend in Kenya, have dinner with someone in Japan, and work out a business deal in the United States all in the same day. There is no substitute for full immersion.
Language is an important part of who we are as a species. Though verbal communication is not unique to us, the depth and breadth of it certainly is. Numerous studies have pointed to the benefits of learning other languages. I was fortunate enough to be born into a culture with more than one, and I have since made an effort to learn more. Still, speaking daily, with native speakers, is the only path to true fluency.
Language is one facet of culture, and the most reliable window into it. Language helps others become introduced to a new culture. Idioms, such as "thinking outside the box," do not make intuitive sense to non-native speakers immediately. Immersion in culture gives you a true immersion in language. It is the difference between seeing a tool in a book and using the same tool to craft a piece of furniture.
To continue the metaphor, every culture will have a slightly different way to craft that chair. There might be a better way than the one I have seen, but only through experiencing all the different ways of performing that task will I know for sure. Thus, immersing myself in as many cultures as I can will give me the breadth of experience to make me the most effective thinker.
Conclusion
In many ways, immersing oneself in different cultures is its own reward. You get to experience an entirely new way of thinking, doing, and solving, to say nothing of the great food, art, and music. This alone would make it matter to me, though there are so many more reasons this one point defines me.
Learning about different ways of thinking helps solve one's own problems. It also shows you the places between, where you didn't even know problems could hide. These are the assumptions, and every culture makes them, though not necessarily the same ones. Looking in these nooks and crannies teaches you more about the world, and about yourself.
Most people on this planet do not come from your country, wherever that might be. By confining yourself to it, you are missing out on most of the interactions available to you. Other than growing as a person, you are missing out some of the most rewarding interactions out there. I want to know the world, and to do that, I want to go everywhere. For me, there is no box.
Why This Essay Works
The writer is clearly passionate about what matters to them. This heartfelt feeling and the genuine way it is expressed helps show the reader who this person is. Being genuine is sometimes difficult, as you are being vulnerable, opening yourself up to criticism and rejection. Don't be afraid of it here. The readers want to know the real you.
The body employs a very effective building technique. The first paragraph discusses the idea of immersion. The second then adds language to the mix. The third adds culture. The fourth ties it all together. Each paragraph builds on what came before it in a simple rhythm, using simple language to illustrate a complex idea.
The conclusion ties these ideas together once again. It mirrors the structure of the body, further exploring the idea of why this breadth matters as much as it does. Finally, it ends with a callback to the first sentence of the first paragraph, a great device to make an essay feel like one complete point.