Knowldege

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

As a child, the only culture I identified with was the city I grew up in, the city of Columbia. My identity at this age was ironically limited to the confines of this context instead of the Ghanaian culture that ran through my veins. I continued to live life with this mentality of exclusively identifying with Columbia, Maryland until my trip to Ghana at the age of 14 kindled a spark. There was a true sense of belonging and significance there; a feeling I never experienced growing up, but a feeling that occurred at the perfect time.

During this trip I learned an ample amount of life long lessons. I became more respectful and understood how fortunate I was when I was exposed to amount of poverty people suffered from. I gained strength from conquering some of the mental and physical challenges faced as I tried to adapt to this new environment.

This new understanding broke grounds in my personal development. I was astounded by how much my temperament changed from child to a young adult, from a boy to a young man, from an American to an African-American. I began to look at life in a different perspective and this helped to shape my social relationships in a new light. For instance, in my experiences following this trip, I showed a new appreciation for my close relationships in my actions, for my actions make the biggest impression. Additionally, I gained a new perspective in my professional development; I began seeing situations from the other side. That is, instead of acting in a self-satisfying manner, I became more mindful and attentive to the person I was assisting when working. Academically, I became more motivated to actively learn what I was taught instead of learning to simply gain a good grade. I used what I learned about cognition in my psychology...