The Perfect Cup of Tea by Alexa

The Perfect Cup of Tea by Alexa - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

It makes most people gag, cringe, and cry, but I am its number one fan. Something about the simplicity and flow of numbers paints a smile upon my face.

Math creates an outlet in which I can get lost in problem solving. I am able to use it to help others, who may not get along with numbers as well as I do. When tutoring peers, it is as if I am coaching them in the fundamentals of math until they learn the motion of the plays and finally are able to score the winning touchdown in Algebra and Calculus on their own. Being taught to apply my mathematical knowledge into projects, movies, and stories, is an educational blessing I have been so lucky to have had.
The thing about math is that I work up a sweat to solve a problem, with a promise that there is always going to be a right, absolute answer. Clear-cut, unambiguous answers to questions are rare. In life, very few things have precise answers, if there are any answers at all. Math gives me the comfort of a consistent, correct, and reliable outcome.

It is not just math that gives me this rush of adrenaline, though; science, its partner in crime, joins in to power this exhilarating feeling of knowledge. Science is all about gathering, guessing, and going the distance to find an answer. Unlike math, science is found in the unpredicted terrain of our world.

The waves of research, in these two subjects, collide to produce an ocean of education, experiments, and evolutionary changes. Together this duo makes a great pair that triggers my curiosity until no end. Like a solute and a solvent, the two mix, creating the counterrevolutionary and calculative concoction known as chemistry. This combination, chemistry, seems to be my perfect cup of tea and I can no longer wait to sip up as much of it as I can.