College Admissions Essay: The Value Of Life

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The Value of Life
Some may wonder, “what is life?” This basic knowledge on the definition of life is needed to set a price on it. Life is defined as the sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Does money, a physical object, really put an accurate value on a conceptual idea? To others life is more than a concept. To me, life contains all my personal senses, experiences, and emotions - things money cannot buy.
You can lose money and earn it back again, but when you lose a life, that cannot be earned back. Based on the information in What Is a Life Worth?, the families that had a member die in an unfortunate event is payed by how much money that family member could have made if he or she was still alive plus $250,000 for the “pain and suffering.” Personally, I do not think a quarter of a million dollars or any amount will make up for the “pain and suffering” caused by a lost loved one. For example, if the lost loved one is a boy’s father, $250,000 will not buy a new father, and it will not make up for the father teaching him football, going fishing, or spending any type of quality time together. Yes, that money could buy some expensive items, but is not the same as the moments that …show more content…

Chris McCandless explains, “The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun” (Krakauer). In Chris’s experience, he wanted to define his own life. He believed that one’s own life is what that individual sets for himself. When people define their own life, they also place a value on it. Even if Chris had died young, he was able to complete his life goals, meaning that Chris did not die for no reason. The individual goals we have completed in our lifetime is a way to measure the value of our

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