Mapping My Future by Nathan

Mapping My Future by Nathan - February 2025 Scholarship Essay

If were asked what sparked my curiosity about the world, I wouldn’t point to a life-changing service trip or vacation. Instead, I would say a video game: Geoguessr. It is a relatively simple concept: it randomly drops you somewhere in the world using Google Street View, and you must figure out where you are using only context clues. What began as a casual pastime evolved rapidly into an obsession. At first, my knowledge was limited to mere patterns I started noticing while playing. The Cyrillic script hinted at Eastern Europe, and the car in Ghana had a piece of maroon tape on the hood. I didn’t, however, fully grasp the reasoning behind some of the patterns. I pondered why countries such as Bulgaria were significantly underdeveloped compared to its neighbor, Greece. These small questions intrigued me; I wanted to go beyond surface-level information.
I enrolled in AP Human Geography for my Junior year. Suddenly, this curiosity found structure in this class. I was introduced to many complexities regarding human migration, cultural diffusion, political geography, etc. I learned how the colonial history of places influenced language distribution to this day and how economic distribution shaped the infrastructure of a country. My experience with Geoguessr flipped from simply identifying a location to understanding it.
As my understanding grew, so did my general knowledge of the places. It wasn’t enough for me to recognize a country; I wanted to be able to pinpoint it more precisely. I spent hours studying the difference between telephone poles in Indonesia and soil of different colors in Brazil. These subtle differences could point me to a specific region in many countries. Every time I learned something new, I understood why it was that way. All these diverse countries were interconnected in their geography, history, and culture. The prevalence of French in Laos and Cyrillic in Mongolia hinted at past colonies. Each discovery continued to fuel my passion.
Because of this newfound love for geography, I became interested in studying International Business in college. I always knew I wanted to study business because of my love for math and numbers, but I never quite knew which sector. After reflecting, it was clear International Business was my true calling. It is something that I genuinely enjoy learning about and always want to know more about. One of my biggest goals in college is to be able to study abroad. I want to immerse myself in these cultures I have spent so much time learning about. Eventually, I want to work in a field where I can see these connections in my everyday life and work with people across borders.
Geoguessr and AP Human Geography did not just teach me facts about the world. They sparked a lifelong passion that has shaped my future. They have taught me to think critically, recognize and understand patterns, and take my curiosity beyond the classroom into my everyday life.