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Boldly where no one has gone before
Traveling across the galactic expanse of my bedroom is the USS Enterprise-D,
broken apart by years of traveling at warp speed in my life. Why then do I not
place it in a dry dock and apply super glue to its hull? Perhaps this
idiosyncratic piece of plastic is like a mirror with my image in it. Being a
symbol of both my flaws and experiences, this starship represents who I am and
what I have done.
How can a model of an imaginary starship represent the unique person I am? Containing various details, the starship correlates to different components thatform to make me. On the exterior, there are twenty-four decks of screens
looking out upon the stars. Representing the curiosity of its inhabitants,
these windows display an excitement and intrigue in the world around me.
Tinkering with every device I obtain or appreciating natural beauty, I strive to
learn more and ask questions about observations that baffle me, explaining my
love for computers as well as my interest in the natural sciences. The number
of decks is symbolic of the large number of diverse inhabitants the ship
contains like the many people in my life. For example, my family, ethnically
Thai and Chinese, provide a unique perspective on the American lifestyle,
combining the ideals of the American dream with the wisdom of Eastern thought.
This cultural fusion allows a deep exploration of these people comparing the
ideals of my family and others. This perspective permits a view that thought
does not depend on purely ethnicity, social class, or family but a combination
of many factors. These many perceptions of perfection and the goals in life
between philosophies develop a tolerance in my mind of different yet equally
valid objectives. The starship's warp engines are characteristic of its daring
to "go where no man has gone before." This ambition is seen in myself, as I
desire to accomplish goals, always slightly beyond my grasps. With this drive
to succeed, I fight to overcome the problems presented before me and obtain
roles, which will only challenge me further. In choosing my high school
classes, I select the hardest and most stimulating courses, making my schedule
seem impossible at the time of registration. It is truly a struggle to absorb
the mass amounts of information and apply them effectively in my work, but
somehow I always seem to survive. On the top of the saucer section is the
bridge, the command center. My desire for leadership positions is continuous as
I always hope to share my views and dedication with others. Like the bridge of
the Enterprise, I often find it my responsibility to resolve a conflict or react
to a problem. At first, I admit the prospect of guiding others was invariably
frightening, but once I realized perfection was not a necessity or a
possibility, my willingness to lead became solid. Whether these qualities are
flaws or positive attributes they fit together to define me as the different
pieces of the model snap together to shape it.
The scattered pieces of the model remain as they are because of the memories of places once seen. Broken by a move from a suburb of Washington, D.C. to one of Chicago, the pieces remind me of the other places I have lived like alien worlds the Enterprise visited. In my young childhood, I recall playing under the
scorching Texas sun along with my friends. Then I did not realize the
differences between their Hispanic culture and their different appearance, but
innocently I enjoyed life among them. My travels then took me to Germany where
I had the opportunity to tour Europe with my family, seeing sights few had the
opportunity to appreciate. There I witnessed the return of Iranian hostages to
my father's military hospital as well as some of those serving in the Persian
Gulf War. Another historic event was the fall of the Berlin Wall and
re-unification of Germany, occurring while I was there. Of course in my youth,
the significance of these events were barely conceivable to me, but affected me
in innumerable yet subtle ways as the crew of the Enterprise was forever changed
by their journey.
The attributes of a gray piece of plastic, modeled after an imaginary starship, represent some of my many qualities. My idiosyncratic desire not to change the state of its worn appearance is an attempt to hang on to those qualities I do cherish as well as the memories of the past. Hopefully this deep exploration of myself has allowed me to share what I have learned about myself and will allow me to continue such explorations at the University of Chicago.
By: Mark Kittisopikul
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Admission Essays