Statement of Purpose Personal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Of Purpose - Personal Statement Example egree from a college in the United States of America would be a superior possibility for me to have more presentation, scholastically as well as in different parts of life. I in this way mean to utilize my master’s program grant that I have gotten from the administration in the US instead of in Saudi Arabia. Following that, I have an inquisitive enthusiasm for various colleges in the United States where I can take up my master’s certificate program and after much Endeavor, I have agrees to the college of (embed college here). I accept the University of (Insert University here) has the assets I need, directly from a committed workforce to an energetic understudy network. This is the reason I would be so pleasured to get a situation in this college to finish my master’s certificate. I am along these lines submissively applying and planning to get a positive criticism as I leave to advance my investigations in this order has been my first love in quite a while. I additionally accept that I won't just increase from the college yet will likewise be an advantageous and valuable option to the understudy network. I am a dynamic understudy and I completely accept that instruction isn't just about books, however goes past simply considering. I accept instruction is less valuable on the off chance that one can't be a piece of a social framework that uses this training. In this regard, I generally participate in more than training and I accept my coordination aptitudes and instinct will be discovered valuable by my kindred understudies just as the staff as and the college on the loose. I accept that getting a chance to concentrate in the University of (Insert University here) will push me to investigate and grow my scholarly ability as well as help me to utilize my differ ent gifts to benefit the college. This is on the grounds that I accept that learning is as much a procedure of educating and I would like to help college understudies to turn out to be better understudies. Concentrating in the University Of Tabuk gave me some valuable experience that I accept will be useful for

John Locke Paper

All through the seventeenth century, John Locke gave society his lessons and hypotheses that explained the request for common law and satisfied humanity’s divine reason for living. Everything started in 1647, as a little youngster when he went to the lofty Westminster School in London under the sponsorship of Alexander Popham. During his years at the Westminster School, he found crafted by present day scholars more intriguing than the material being instructed at the university.Much of Locke's impact and later work was portrayed by resistance to dictatorship, which concentrated on both the degree of the distinct individual and fair and square of foundations, for example, government and church. Locke needed every one of us to utilize motivation to look after truth instead of just acknowledge the assessment of specialists or be dependent upon odd notion. He needed us to extent oblige the suggestion to the proof for them. Locke arrived at the resolution that there must be a parit y and common comprehension among singularity and social organizations where society won't feel smothered under man made law and restrictions.John Locke accepted that all information originates as a matter of fact. Experience is made out of two sections: outside and inward. Outside encounters are thoughts of assumed outer articles. These items enter our psyches through sensation. Instances of sensations would be hot, cool, red, yellow, hard, delicate, sweet and harsh. Inward encounters are reflections that cause us to comprehend the procedure on the objects of sensation. Instances of reflections are thinking, willing, thinking, questioning, certifying, denying, and comparing.Once again Locke returns to his establishment of standards by reaffirming that so as to make progress and sensation there must be a working connection between singular objectives and the law of society. Sensation and reflection are known as the two wellsprings of information. The entirety of our thoughts we can n ormally have or have so as of now originate from these two encounters. Reasonable characteristics pass on into the brain, and they produce the greater part of the discernments and the majority of the incredible wellsprings of thoughts we have.Sensation and reflection contrast from one another in light of the fact that sensation is the thing that occurs outside the body, and reflection needs to do what occurs inside the body with our psyche. Likewise reflection has to do with the thoughts it bears being such just as the brain gets by thinking about its own activities inside itself, the psyche assumes control over its own tasks and the way of them. Other than having reasonable characteristics one additionally contains essential and auxiliary characteristics. Locke clarifies that these characteristics are two sorts of properties that an article could have.Primary characteristics contain strength, figure, expansion, movement and number. They are properties that are goal and autonomous o n faculties. Then again, auxiliary characteristics comprise of shading, smell, taste, sound and contact. They are properties that are abstractly seen. In Locke’s, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he states, â€Å"sensible characteristics; which, whatever reality we accidentally credit to them, are in truth nothing in the items themselves, yet powers to create different sensations in us†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (John Locke, 77).In different words, auxiliary characteristics are subject to the essential characteristics. As per Locke, thoughts are whatever is â€Å"the prompt object of recognition, thought, or understanding† (William Lawhead, 91). Locke expresses that sensation and reflection are delegated basic and complex thoughts. Basic thoughts are red, yellow, hard, delicate, and so on and for instance, you contact an ice 3D square, your brain is revealing to you its cold and it’s hard, you discover that as a matter of fact. Locke accepted that the psyche can't h ave the foggiest idea about an unpracticed thought or make another straightforward idea.Although the brain can't make basic thoughts, it can process them into complex thoughts. Complex thoughts are comprised of a few straightforward thoughts, for example, excellence, appreciation, a man, a military, the universe. Complex thoughts are additionally separated into three sections: thoughts of substance which is a consistent assortment of straightforward thoughts, thoughts of mode which is a blend of a few thoughts, which structure a mode, similar to a triangle, to wrap things up thoughts of relationship, which is a correlation of one plan to another.From experience it goes to sensation and reflection, and those depend on basic thoughts and that’s all contained in the inactive brain, after basic thoughts it goes to complex thoughts and that’s situated in the dynamic psyche. In general in Locke’s hypothesis he utilizes epistemological dualism, which is the brain that comprises of knowing and its thoughts. He likewise expresses the article in the outside world is known by thoughts, and our thoughts speak to those items. In the wake of looking into about Locke’s hypothesis of information I would need to concur with what he has stated.Locke states that you experience an inner and outer experience and I feel that today’s youth do make a halfhearted effort of the inside and outside encounters. Subsequently the adolescent can pick up the information from those encounters by permitting the brain to readily acknowledge these new thoughts. For instance, when I was more youthful I put my hand close to a hot oven and from the warmth aggravating and constraining my hand my brain disclosed to me it was a negative boosts and it was fundamental to expel my hand from the oven and to keep that memory as an essential instinct.Society experiences encounters all through existence of inside and outer and in the long run picks up information through the se encounters. John Locke additionally expressed that the brain does all the knowing and its thoughts are known. I concur with what he is stating on the grounds that your psyche is continually working, it’s consistently dynamic, we get thoughts inside through our brain and we get thoughts from the outside that goes into our brain. The parity is important among interior and outside components to keep society and people stable but dynamic to adjust to new switches that ascent up.

Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish Facts You Never Knew

Crown-Of-Thorns Starfish Facts You Never Knew Crown-of-thistles starfish (Acanthaster planci)â are delightful, thorny and decimating animals that have made mass obliteration a portion of the universes most excellent coral reefs. Portrayal One of the most observable highlights of the crown-of-thistles starfish is the spines, which might be up to two inches in length. These ocean starsâ can be from nine creeps to up to three feet in distance across. They have 7 to 23 arms. Crown-of-thistles starfish have an assortment of conceivable shading mixes, with skin hues that includeâ brown, dark, green, or purple. Spine hues incorporate red, yellow, blue, and brown. Despite their hardened appearance, crown-of-thistles starfish are shockingly coordinated. Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Facts Realm: AnimaliaPhylum: EchinodermataSubphylum: AsterozoaClass: AsteroideaSuperorder: ValvataceaOrder: ValvatidaFamily: AcanthasteridaeGenus: AcanthasterSpecies: Planci Living space and Distribution Crown-of-thistles starfish lean toward generally undisturbed waters, found in tidal ponds and profound water. It is a tropical animal groups that lives in the Indo-Pacific Region, including the Red Sea, South Pacific, Japan, and Australia. In the U.S., they are found in Hawaii. Taking care of Crown-of-thistles starfish as a rule eat the polyps of hard, moderately quickly developing stony corals, for example, staghorn corals. In the event that food is rare, they will eat other coral species. They feed by expelling their stomach out of their bodies and onto the coral reef and afterward usingâ enzymes to process the coral polyps. This procedure can take a few hours. After the coral polyps are processed, the ocean star gets off, leaving just the white coral skeleton behind. Predators of crown-of-thistles starfish (generally of little/youthful starfish) incorporate the monster triton snail, humphead Maori wrasse, brilliant pufferfish, and titan triggerfish. Multiplication Multiplication in crown-of-thistles starfish is sexual and happens through outer treatment. Females and guys discharge eggs and sperm, individually, which are prepared in the water section. A female can deliver 60 to 65 million eggs during a rearing season. Prepared eggs bring forth into hatchlings, which are planktonic for two to about a month prior to settling to the sea base. These youthful ocean stars feed on coralline green growth for a while before changing their eating routine to corals. Protection The crown-of-thistles starfish has a solid enough populace that there is no compelling reason to assess it for preservation. Indeed, some of the time crown-of-thistles starfish populaces can get so high, they destroy reefs. At the point when crown-of-thistles starfish populaces are at sound levels, they can be useful for a reef. They can keep bigger, quickly developing stony corals under tight restraints, permitting little corals to develop. They additionally can open space for all the more slow developing corals to develop and increment diversity.â Nonetheless, about like clockwork, there is an episode of crown-of-thistles starfish. An episode is said to happen when there are at least 30 starfish for every hectare. Now, the starfish expend coral quicker than the coral can regrow. In the 1970s, there was a moment that 1,000 starfish for every hectare were seen in an area of the northern Great Barrier Reef. While it shows up these flare-ups have happened consistently for a large number of years, ongoing flare-ups appear to be progressively visit and serious. The specific reason is obscure, yet there are some theories. One issue is spillover, which washes synthetic concoctions (for instance, farming pesticides)â from the land into the sea. This pumpsâ more supplements into the water that causes a sprout in microscopic fish, which thusly gives additional food to crown-of-thistles starfish hatchlings and makes theâ population boom. Another cause might be overfishing, which has diminished the number of inhabitants in starfish predators. A case of thisâ is the overcollection of mammoth triton shells, which are prized as souvenirs.â Researchers and asset administrators are looking for answers for crown-of-thistles starfish episodes. One strategy for adapting to the starfish includes harming them. Singular starfish must be harmed physically by jumpers, which is a period and work concentrated procedure, so it can just plausibly be directed over little regions of a reef. Another arrangement is to attempt to keep episodes from occurring or prevent them from getting so huge. One approach to do that is through working with farming to diminish pesticide use, and through practices, for example, incorporated nuisance management.â Use Care When Diving When swimming or jumping around crown-of-thistles starfish, use care. Their spines are sufficiently sharp to make a cut injury (despite the fact that a wet suit) and they contain a venom that can cause agony, queasiness, and retching. Assets and Further Reading Acanthaster planci (Linnaeus, 1758). World Register of Marine Species. Becker, Joseph. Marine Envenomations: Invertebrates. Ready Diver Online, Paul Auerbach, Dan Holdings, Inc., Spring 2011. Crown-of-thistles starfish. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Australian Government, 2019. Crown of Thorns Starfish. Reef Resilience Network, The Nature Conservancy, 2018. Hoey, Jessica. Ecological Status: Crown-of-thistles starfish. Extraordinary Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Australian Government, August 2004. Infusion separates reef-murdering crown of thistles starfish. The Sydney Morning Herald, April 22, 2014.â Kayal, Mohsen, et al. Predator Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster planci) Outbreak, Mass Mortality of Corals, and Cascading Effects on Reef Fish and Benthic Communities. PLOS ONE, October 8, 2012. Shell, Hanna Rose. Headway in Water. Scinema Study Guide, CSIRO.

Media Worldview Essay Example

Media Worldview Essay Cognac Cain March 2, 2013 CVW 101 G. Malloy Media Worldview The film I picked was It’s A Wonderful Life. It is one of my preferred motion pictures. I think it’s a work of art and everybody should watch it at any rate once. The film depends on the life of George Bailey. You know from the earliest starting point that the perspective is Christian since it begins with everybody petitioning God for George. George is an upset man going through a tough time and a blessed messenger named Clarence Odbody comes down to give him how various his life would be in the event that he had never been conceived. Clarence needs to spare George so he can get his wings. The head holy messengers Franklin and Joseph show Clarence Georges life up till now. George lives in New Bedford, NY. It’s an unassuming community where everybody knows everybody. George’s father possesses the Bailey Building and Loan Association. From when George was a youngster to his grown-up life the Bailey Building and Loan Association is at risk for leaving business. George Bailey is the sort of individual who forfeits his own fantasies for those of others. At the point when George was 12 he spared his infant sibling Harry after he falls into a solidified lake. We will compose a custom article test on Media Worldview explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom article test on Media Worldview explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom article test on Media Worldview explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer He wound up losing his stud in the wake of getting a cold from being in the freezing water. George worked at the neighborhood drug store. He understood that the pharmacist, Mr. Gower, has recently gotten a wire saying that his child had kicked the bucket. He was troubled to the point that he put poison in a pill expected to be given to a youngster. George sees this and doesn’t convey the medication. The pharmacist is frantic to the point that he hits George in his awful ear. George at that point discloses to Mr. Gower that he committed an error. Mr. Gower excuses George. In the wake of graduating secondary school George goes to work at the Bailey Building to set aside cash to head off to college. It takes him 4 years and his sibling Harry is presently moving on from secondary school. George’s father wishes he could send both of his children to school simultaneously. George clarifies that Harry can do a similar thing as he has done. George goes to observe Harry’s graduation. He hits the dance floor with Mary Hatch who really likes George for quite a long time. One of the different folks who was after Mary was vexed that George took her from him so he pulls a trick on them. Underneath the move floor opens up to a pool. George and Mary were moving on the split of the floor. At the point when the floor begins to open George and Mary are unconscious and imagine that they should move each great. They fall in and begin moving in the pool. Everybody perceive how much fun they are having so they hop in. That equivalent night George’s father bites the dust from a stroke. George needs to require his arrangements on observing the world to be postponed to run his father’s organization. Harry and Mary head out to school deserting George. Four years Harry comes back with a spouse whose father has given him a phenomenal open door that George can’t let Harry leave behind. George goes to visit Mary and affirms his affection to her and a couple of months after the fact they get hitched. After their wedding the Bailey Building is going to be dispossessed upon and George and Mary take the $2000 put something aside for their special night and offer it to the clients. George and Mary have four youngsters: Pete, Susan, Tommy, and Zuzu. George building Bailey Park a moderate lodging venture. On the day the bank inspector comes George’s uncle Billy has lost the $8000 they owe. They attempt and follow down his tracks yet don't discover the cash. George attempts to get a credit and falls flat. He lashes out at his family since he is so distressed. It’s Christmas Eve and he chose to go to the bar and become inebriated. He runs is vehicle into a tree and feels he would be worth more dead than alive and remains on the scaffold going to hop. Clarence his blessed messenger shows George Potterville. George sees his life merits something and heads home. He is welcomed with loved ones giving him cash to spare him from bank misrepresentation. Clarence had the option to get his wings. You realize his happens when George’s girl hears a ringer and says, â€Å"Every time a chime rings a blessed messenger gets his wings. †

All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (and at MIT)

All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (and at MIT) [Disclaimer: Not my last post! Ive still got one more in me after this one. :)] The other day I was hanging out with one of my best friends from high school when we got into a heated argument about the value of an undergraduate college degree. My friend, who I love very dearly and consider my own flesh and blood, is very bright but has always hated school because of its arbitrarily bureaucratic hoops. To give you an idea of what he is like, he taught my little brother (who was four at the time) to respond with Stick it to the Man when people asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. I reached for the right words to validate the way I had spent my last four years halfway across the country. Essentially, I was trying to stop him from dropping out of college. Without trying to belittle the diploma that Id received less than a week before, he posited that many talented kids would be better off (and might contribute more to the world) pursuing projects or companies or whatever business endeavors that they were really interested in instead of enduring the confined walls of a university and its limiting course requirements. Pullling a Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs or one of these guys, if you will. Presented with a hypothetical situation in which 18-year-old Elizabeth and 22-year-old Elizabeth were both gunning for the same job, he said hed regard both equally, because while 22-year-old me has the diploma, the 18-year-old me that he knew had the drive and tenacity that wouldve figured out a way to succeed.  At that point I had to stop yelling at him and just grin uncontrollably, because the 18-year-old me was obnoxious and kind of an asshat, and it was a miracle that he and my other friends ever put up with me, and it would be an even bigger miracle for a full-time employer to do the same. But it also horrified me, because suddenly I was faced with presenting a defense of all the ways I had changed in the last four years and all the things that college had given me and I was at a loss for words. You might be incredulous at the fact that I hadnt been reflecting on these things during my last few weeks at MIT, but I wasnt thinking about these things. I was frantically packing, moving things into storage, saying goodbye, watching movies with friends who I wont see for indefinite periods of time, enduring the wildly craptastic weather during graduation, and in denial that the Tute was kicking me out, and that with this piece of paper, society saw me as somehow qualified to be a grown up and do grown up things in the grown up world.  What did I learn at MIT? (We shouted at each other some more, banged our fists on the table, disturbed other people in the restaurant, and then gave each other big hugs before saying goodnight, the issue left unresolved.) A couple days later, I was flipping through old photo albums (because I am actually that nauseatingly sentimental of a person and do that crap everytime I go home, and because I was looking for pictures to use in a Fathers Day card) and came across pictures from my kindergarten graduation. Evidently my mom is equally sentimental because she had kept everything they gave us during the graduation ceremony (yes. We had a ceremony. And a rainbow cap and gown color theme.). One of those things was a copy of Robert Fulghums All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, which has become a standard for coming-of-age celebrations almost ubiquitous as Vitamin Cs Graduation. And it got me thinking about what I learned in college All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten  by  Robert Fulgham Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school. Or, in the ball pit in Simmons Hall, originally built as a Meditation Room and where we held our Senior Ball[pit] afterparty. These are the things I learned: Share everything. People experience some pretty heinous living situations in college and early adulthood. Others get absurdly fortunate and find a home to share with people. I, rather undeservedly and extreme luckily, fell into the latter category. I met my freshman roommate, Sneha, when we serendipitously peeked at each others rooming survey (we happened to be standing next to each other), only to notice that the other shared living habits similar to people at least three times our age (You go to bed early? You dont like noise? What the WHAT?!). We shared the same room with each other for four years. I shared a bathroom with guys and I shared a kitchen with hallmates who never cleaned their dishes (I admit Ive committed the eggregious offense of soaking my bowls numerous times). I yelled at people to shut up (using choice words that I cannot put on the blogs) and I stayed up with people for no reason other than to derp in the hallways and enjoy their company. I shared a home with over 300 people and I learned to compromise. I got better about being tidy and trying to be less hypocritcal. The family I had in our home of Simmons Hall was generous and I cant say I always returned their friendship as much as I should have, but at the very least, I learned how to be a better friend. Play fair. Five years ago I asked my MIT interviewer what his favorite part about the Institute was, and he told me that he loved that it was as close a thing to a meritocracy in this world as they get. I lived in this meritocracy for four years and it gave me one of the things I will treasure most toughness. It made me earn everything, it made me learn to take criticism and to build back up from it. That isnt to say that MIT doesnt recognize that some people get stuck playing the game of life on a much harder level, and try to level the playing field accordingly (I cant remember where I heard it phrased like that, but Ive been partial to it ever since). But Ill be damned if that isnt being fair. None of us caught breaks because we were girls or came from interesting backgrounds or were rich or poor or whatever. We had to prove ourselves constantly. I dont think it was always the healthiest thing, because folks start equating their self-worth with a very narrow definition of success, and somet imes it meant that there were some real assholes floating around this place. But because it was a meritocracy, I spent the last four years having no illusions of grandeur in a very, very good way. Teaching twentysomethings not to feel so entitled to everything? Im not sure if it had that effect on everyone here, but it sure as hell did for me. Dont hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. My room at home the summer before college and my room at school packing up after my first semester. Literal messes: I, like most of the students here, moved myself into my dorm during freshman orientation and had to go through storing everything on my own every summer. You know what builds character? Having to pack up all your crap on your own. It also makes you have a much more critical eye when amassing purchases. Figurative messes: When poo hits the proverbial fan, it may be beyond the scope of what Mom and Dad can do to help. Maybe I just lived a very fortunate life to not have to deal with such poo until I left home, but I encountered this in college and had to figure out how to clean up my own messes. Better I did it in my early twenties than later Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Somewhat unrelated, but heres a shot of our bathroom when Cambridge experienced a freak power outage this year (the only one Ive ever experienced there). MITs backup generators go straight to the labs, so Simmons was left without lights, save for the emergency ones in the stairwells and bathrooms? Power outages cant stop problem setting! Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. As are Nathans homemade rosewater buttercream cupcakes and Russells homemade pizza. Live a balanced life. Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some every day. A few weeks ago, Hamsika asked me what the biggest thing that changed about me since coming to MIT was, and I told her that Id become much less ambitious. Again, as with all of my experiences, I cant claim it to be indicative of that of the rest of my classmates, but she seemed to be in agreement. I worked really hard at MIT (most of us did), and it was amazing to be constantly surrounded by people who were driven and cared about things (people throw around the word passion a lot, but lets face it. Its really just caring about something). People at MIT dont really half-ass things (most of the time), which also made it an incredibly exhausting place to be sometimes. I never took for granted being in the company of people who care, regardless of how grating or tiring it got, but I also started valuing and appreciating things like leisure and side projects and meaningful relationships a lot more. It meant I had to prioritize things some projects were left unpursued, some friendships su ffered, MANY blog posts were left unwritten but in the end I sort of figured out what made me happy and fulfilled and sane, which is something Im very glad to know. Take a nap every afternoon. Sigh. Ive never been a napper. I was that weird kid in preschool who stayed awake during naptime, sitting on my cot waiting for the others to wake up. Unfortunately, MIT did little to change that for me, though my friends never seemed to have the same problem. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. That’s the thing about MIT. We go through everything as a team â€" working, struggling with homework, comforting each other when it’s 4 am and we’re still not done with a pset, celebrating birthdays at midnight (even though it was never a surprise), and grinning so wide at others’ accomplishments and successes they might as well be our own.  (Couldnt have said it better, Hamsika. Read the rest of her last post here!) Be aware of wonder. I loved many things about this school, one of them being that there were days where Id walk down the Infinite Corridor and just smile to myself, in awe of everything that was around me. I knew next door, someone was making something that has never been made or discovering something that had never been known. And on top of that, I had the priviledge of spending four years experiencing those moments in class, four years  where my primary obligation was to learn about the world. It was incredibly humbling. Wonder isnt a a sparkly concept emblazoned on a Lisa Frank backpack (although Im pretty sure I owned one in first grade), but a reflection of respect for the universe as we try to wrap our tiny minds around it. Our world is messed up, but it is also overwhelmingly beautiful and simulatenously small and expansive and I feel so lucky to have what sliver of knowledge I do about it, and hopefully Ill use it to make it a little better. Ironically, it became easier to lose sight of this the further I got into my studies. I met people who seemed so lost in the depths of their research or work that they didnt always seem to grasp its impact on a higher, societal level. But there were  enough people at MIT who nudged me out of cynicism when I needed  it most. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup. The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. I cant wait to get out of here. I am willing to forgo the rest of the summer to get to Boston sooner. I remember saying these words to someone in July of 2009, right before I left my hometown (where Id lived my whole life) to go to MIT. I was in such a hurry to leave, not realizing just how deeply my roots had been planted. Ripping them out totally backfired on me. I missed my family, my friends, being able to see the stars at night, Shakespeares Pizza, and Ninth Street more than I ever thought I would. People are more than the little seed in the plastic cup we can plant roots in multiple places, and instead of pulling us in different directions and further into the ground, they only help us to grow taller. You dont have to uproot yourself to go on an adventure, as my 18-year-old self had mistaken. Deeper roots only send you further than you could have ever gone on your own. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup they all die. So do we. (Boston Globe) Of course, this one is the most difficult to write about, especially because deaths inevitability doesnt make it easier to process when it comes too soon and too unjustly. Im not sure that I or any of us will fully come to terms with the loss of a life, whether it makes national headlines, as so many did this year, or is a quiet individual experience of mourning; whether it is that of a complete stranger or someone you shared your life with. Life is so precious, and I wish we all (myself included) didnt need death to put things in perspective, to remind us that there are always reasons to be joyful and thankful in the face of problem sets and deadlines and the millions of excuses to be miserable. Death is not an end, and these beautiful people proved it. Live well, live selflessly, and live fully, and your life will be an example for others to do the same, even after it comes to an end. And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK. Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation, ecology and politics and sane living. At the end of my MIT interview (which, for the record, went very, very, objectively TERRIBLY), my interviewer told me that MIT had everything I could ever want, but that no one would give it to me. If you needed help, if you wanted to work on a great project it was all there, but you had to look for it yourself. Job opportunities, a good nights rest, friendships, clean laundry, happiness you had to make these things for yourself. I was very lucky that during these four years, many of the things I needed were right within arms reach, as MIT was an environment that facilitated locating these things pretty nicely. As I depart the physical location of MIT and the life-niche of college, there are days where I am bona-fide-terri-fied of what life will look like out in the real world. A real world where I cant just walk up three flights of stairs to find a hallway full of friends, where I cant make a real life light-saber just because I have access to machinery that can mill the parts (tho ugh lets be real, I never took advantage of that), where I cant pop into an advisors office for life advice. But I think Ive managed to fumble together an assemblance of a life, and I know that everything I need will still be out there, even if it is harder to find. Think of what a better world it would be if we all the whole world had cookies and milk about 3 oclock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and clean up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together. To my friend (if you are reading this), If you really want to drop out, and if you really think youll make more out of your life doing something other than going through our admittedly-less-than-ideal American university system, then I say go for it.  I will love and understand you no less. Evidently all I ever really needed to know, and all I gathered from a rather decent institution of higher learning, were things that I should have learned when I was four years old. And on top of that, college (or kindergarten, for that matter) didnt teach me everything. I did not learn how to refinance a house, fix a flat tire, enjoy eating dinner by myself, or stop using parenthetical remarks so excessively. College is not for everyone (though you have to admit that, for better or worse, we are living in a society where it is becoming increasingly more difficult to enjoy a higher quality of life without a diploma), and MIT is not for everyone. There were times I was miserable here and you and many, many others would have endured a mi sery far greater than mine. Not because you couldnt handle it, but because you would not necessarily find the things that made me happy and fulfilled worth tolerating the less-than-desirable qualities of this place. But I did get a lot out of being here, a piece of paper probably being the least important on the list. I guess what Im trying to say, albeit super long-windedly, is that my experiences have been very personal to me. Yours have been, too. And thats okay. We are different, and so a path that best suits us will look different. But I would in a heartbeat, without an ounce of doubt take 22-year-old Elizabeth over that snothead you used to get into shenanigans with back in high school. And being here made all the difference. (I would DEFINITELY hire 22-year-old Elizabeth over 4-year-old Elizabeth.)