The Passion of Pursuit by Sukriti

The Passion of Pursuit by Sukriti - August 2019 Scholarship Essay

Although having a multitude of passions allow me to pursue a variety of activities, the greatest difficulty that comes with this is the indecision of choosing the right career. With a gap year, before starting one of the most monumental moments of my life – college, I would use six months to continually pursue my passions and try to condense my interests in order to fit my major. Additionally, I would use the other six months to explore a developing country such as Ethiopia to gain a better insight on the impoverished parts of the world.

Initially, in the first six months of my gap year I would do multiple photoshoots with numerous and diverse subjects in order to formulate the type of photography I would want to study in college. Furthermore, I would continue to grow the nonprofit organization that I found in my freshman year of high school, so that it could continue to benefit disabled children in third-world countries. I would use the money collected through photoshoots to buy supplies for disabled children in Ethiopia which would help them achieve a greater level of success. By persistently doing these activities before the start of college, it will help me assess the specific aspects that I enjoy about humanitarian work and photography, which would in turn yield me towards a specific major that I would study in college.

Travelling to a country such as Ethiopia for a duration of six months will enable me to immerse myself in the different forms of Ethiopian culture – politics, history, religion, popular culture, music, media, and cuisine. By spending time in a country that is trying to rebuild itself and become prosperous, it will help me gain insight in the general topic of international relations which could be a potential major that I pursue in college. Additionally, being a part of people’s everyday lives in Ethiopia will provide me with new knowledge on how to potentially help other countries in the future. To combine the activities of travelling and photography, I would bring my camera to Ethiopia and photograph the diverse people, architecture, flora, and fauna. This will combine my two passions and help me connect to my education by learning outside of the classroom.

The outcome of taking a gap year before starting college will have a tremendous impact on my life and will enable me to be more successful in college. Taking a gap year will identify exactly what major and minor I want to study in college. Not only will it benefit me in college, but it will also help me gain a greater insight on what it is like to be an artist and a humanitarian. Ultimately, taking a gap year before college will direct me towards not only a successful four years in higher education, but a year that will enable me to exponentially grow.