Who I Am: My Interests and Aspirations Daniel Dolgicer

Maturation is a long, tedious process, as thrilling as it is challenging. Each stage of a young life poses its own set of unique challenges: the toddler taking his first clumsy steps, slowly progressing towards two-limbed balance; the first grader reciting the alphabet with gusto and pride; the high school student writing, editing, and re-editing his personal statement for college admission.

The pinnacle of coming of age, however, is perhaps the tail end: the collegiate years. This span of life, relatively short yet flush with personal growth, contains within it a slew of choices--forks in the road--that one must tackle. Decisions made by college students involve core issues that have dramatic impact on the years moving forward. These decisions set the tone, and the course, of life as an increasingly independent young adult.

I am flush with enthusiasm, ambition, and academic knowledge, yet lack the finesse and wisdom that comes with life experience. Thus the choices that I must make as I approach my senior year of high school studies are, to state it lightly, most daunting. I must decide on the institution at which I will spend the next four years, as well as the course of study that I will pursue there.

Onwards to my academic...