I dug this essay up while working on my HBS essays. I submitted it with my Common App, which dangerously presented an essay topic of “Answer a question of your choosing”.
“In what ways are you like a volcano?”
To the average person walking down the street, I might not look much like a volcano, but really, there is a lot that the geological landmark and I have in common.
For one thing, volcanoes can be active and spewing out lava, or dormant and slowly building up pressure until releasing it in one great eruption. Sometimes I find myself in this dormant stage, carefully watching and waiting as I slowly build up ideas for different things I could do. Then, once the possibilities in my head reach critical mass, they burst out into reality. Some are creative projects: photography or a t-shirt design. Others are more pragmatic: a new approach for a project on the robotics team or planning a fundraising event for my youth group. Either way, I like to gather information and plan before I go into action.
When a volcano erupts, it changes the environment around it. I think that I leave changes too, but in a more positive way. I tutor students in algebra and photography, using my knowledge to show them what they need to advance further. Some of my ideas have hopefully changed people’s perspective on social issues, too. Free Shirt Week was an idea of mine where classmates could stop worrying about looking cool and just wear the shirts they got for participating in some event. Many people participated and it brought a bit of flavor to school.
There is nothing that people can do to stop volcanoes, and sometimes I can be just as stubborn. Last year, on the robotics team, I worked to develop a camera system to automatically find and interact with objects based on color. People told me I would not be able to do it, but I spent hours and hours working closer and closer to my goal. I never actually reached that goal, but I learned a lot on the way there. If I had just given up, all that experience would have been lost.
When Mt. Vesuvius buried Pompeii in ash, it preserved artifacts and villas for centuries. Similarly, I believe that preserving our world for the future is very important. I enjoy photography and take lots of pictures. I hope that my photographs are preserved long enough that my grandchildren, or their grandchildren, can look at them and marvel at the world the way it ‘used to be.’ Perhaps the pictures that I now think of as artistic will be scoffed at in the future, or maybe I’ll be the next Michelangelo.
Volcanoes may seem like complex natural forces, but they can be deconstructed. I believe you can get a better idea about anything by looking at all the pieces that make it up and understanding the interrelatedness of each part. Similarly, I am a combination of many skills, interests, and experiences which when combined form the mosaic that is me.
