Flame is interviewing bright young girls applying to Wesleyan, and being swept up by the naive purity of these women, who try so hard to be authentic and come off sounding truly weird. When I was applying to grad school, I wrote my own sappy tune, praising myself more highly than I deserve, but I can’t say I still know any better.<\/p>\n
I was going through old projects to decide which to document, and I found my draft of a generic personal statement to be modified for whatever program I might find to apply to. Here it is, in all its self-centeredness, more for my future access than to subject any of you.<\/p>\n
\nMotivation Letter to an Unknown Academic Program<\/b><\/p>\n
Since graduating from MIT in 2003, I have taught at a new engineering
\ncollege for two years; I worked as a freelance software developer for
\ntwo years; I hosted a philosophy and society discussion group for two
\nyears; I founded and developed a social networking business for two
\nyears; and by next winter, I will have spent two years traveling
\nabroad.<\/p>\n
My interests span teaching, engineering, philosophy, social
\norganization, and world cultures, but they come from an underlying
\nmotivation. I want to discover new ways of living to help our
\nchanging world.<\/p>\n
I am excited to part of the revolutions happening now in informatics
\nand philosophy. Software development is helping form the future: so
\nmuch of our lives involve computers and are influenced by the
\ninterfaces and paradigms their developers choose. We have barely
\ndiscovered the ways that technology can structure our organizations,
\ninteractions, and senses of self. Philosophy is grappling to find a
\nlife-affirming and ethics-motivating way to acknowledge the advances
\nof technology and science. It has been driven by both them and
\nworldwide clashes of culture to search for a more inclusive world
\nview.<\/p>\n
I love teaching as an opportunity to introduce these new ways of
\nthinking and to structure learning. Travel lets me experience the
\ndiversity of culture and different balances of the past and the
\nfuture. Both inform my interest in people, in how they organize, and
\nin helping them work together.<\/p>\n
Roughly, I am interested in studying world community development for
\nour century. This research draws on skills and discoveries from the
\nfields of education, informatics, and cultural studies, as well as
\nmany others. The complexities of psychology and sociology are also
\nkey: every cranny of the world is changing, and the directions of
\nthose shifts conform to and reveal the human spirit. The specifics of
\ngeopolitics and a deep understanding of cultures is important, without
\nwhich the broad movements of the world’s communities will be as elusive as
\ntheir details.<\/p>\n
Technology and communication will have huge roles to play in shaping
\nour world. I hope to study both the broad trends and the most recent
\ndevelopments in cutting-edge research. Urban studies, and in
\nparticular how the organizational choices we make effect changes in
\nculture, also plays into this study.<\/p>\n
I want to synthesize as well as analyze. Our capacity to create or
\ndestroy our future world is greater now than ever. Advances in the
\ntechnologies of advertising and Internet social networking; new
\nexperiments in human cooperation and a better understanding of the
\nhuman psyche and social attitudes; and a society ready to support an
\nendless variety of unique individuals and their endeavors are all
\ncoalescing in exciting ways.<\/p>\n
I hope to develop my sense of what resources are available and needed
\nfor world community development, and my ability to write and organize
\nto help them happen.<\/p>\n
Since I believe education should reach beyond academia, my values are
\nalso important. I believe in social liberalism: everyone deserves
\nliberty, opportunity, and a life unhindered by prejudice. I believe
\nin economic liberalism: the economy exists for the benefit of all, and
\nthe laws we choose can secure better economic justice. I am humanist
\nand technophilic: the full capacity of human kind is untapped, and
\ntechnology can help us find it. I believe we desperately need to live
\nsustainably now, to best dissipate many worldwide disasters. After
\nsustainability and education, I believe we can best alleviate world
\nsuffering by cultivating a deep appreciation for diversity, and the
\nstrength made in differences.<\/p>\n
While I expect to further refine the scope of my studies, that path
\nwill be a manifestation of this greater intersection of interests.<\/p>\n
I hope and believe that my journey in this can continue with
\nattendance to your fine program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Flame is interviewing bright young girls applying to Wesleyan, and being swept up by the naive purity of these women, who try so hard to be authentic and come off sounding truly weird. When I was applying to grad school, I wrote my own sappy tune, praising myself more highly than I deserve, but I … Continue reading Application Rhetoric<\/span>