Personal Narrative: My Personal Goals

It's hard for me to say where I'll be in the years to come, already my life has strayed from the path I once thought it would follow. However, that doesn't change my motivation or determination to reach and excel at my personal goals. My whole life I've endured a system that dictated what should be important to me, and while it's helped me learn the practical skills I need outside of an academic setting, I have a passion to grow further from what's expected of me, and so with much enthusiasm I look forward to attending college in which I hope to achieve more by constantly learning and expanding my personal knowledge.

I was lucky enough to have a privileged youth, from the time I was six-years old my family was traveling. While in countries

perviously unknown by me, my awareness of other cultures and people diversified, I was learning about wars, religions, traditions of countries I hadn't ever considered before. While I was thankful for the opportunity to explore new places, the stigma that Americans had no concern for their education or the world outside of their own discouraged me and bound me to an assumed ignorance- something I was determined to free myself of. It was then that I realized my drive for intellect was beginning to develop.
Thanks to the encouragement I received from my family, by the time I was nine I was reading high school material, later when I was thirteen, I had well surpassed my classmates and started reading novels that were set at a college level. My affinity towards reading had only helped to strengthen my mind and manage my wisdom. Today, I've read hundreds of books, each somehow aiding me on my journey to self-improvement. This personal hobby has only helped to enhance skills that would become detrimental to my success in future courses.
While reading has aided me in learning more about the world, my passion for traveling in no way distracts from the same cause. Though I've enjoyed my many voyages throughout countries in Europe, I want to go everywhere I can, learn as much as I can about the cultures that connect us as a society, and experience what it is that fundamentally makes us human. A great man I admire, Jimmy Nelson, once lectured in reference to his journeys traveling the world to photograph tribes of people that are disappearing from our existence. After the speech was given I reflected on his words, the beauty he had captured couldn't begin to describe to me all the things left unsaid about their cultures, and who they were as a population, and yet in a few short years they will be forgotten into extinction. Diverse cultures, and a plethora of people whom none of us have considered are worth saving, simply because we don't know they exist. Why is it that in a world of expanding resources we've allowed ourselves to stray so far into indifference?
At no point in my life do I ever want to end my consumption of literature, histories, and the sciences. At no point do I ever want to sacrifice the joy I find in building my character through intellect for the ignorance that is inflicted upon my fellow citizens. While my goal of constantly educating myself will take no less than a lifetime, for the time being I want to find a college that will support my passion to grow as a student. That's why I've chosen to apply to this school, based on the merit and scholars that occupy the university, I have no doubt that my choice in applying here will aid me to strive to become a better individual.