Personal statements — written in full, word for word.
"Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?"
It starts with a line, dragging my inked up fountain pen with a flat nib along the blank sheet of canvas paper, you can almost hear the scratches as I drag the pen across while the flat line appears. Then another line, and a stroke, a scratch, a twist of a pen and many more. A process so intricate that one stroke can destroy the very beauty it hoped to create, they say that the devil is in the details, but in that moment it was in my trembling hands. After 2 hours of laser eye focus with violin music from my favorite Spotify playlist scornfully playing into my awakened eardrums; I stand, with pride. I finally did it, a gleaming face is all you see when it comes to my expression, the notebook almost seems to be glowing of gold, or maybe that's just the lamp. But there it is……"nothing". You read that right, the first words of my calligraphy masterpiece of abstract art was described by absolute ignorance of my cousin as "nothing". But to me? It was my pride and joy, where I could escape the mortality of time and never feel tired, it was almost as if Old English calligraphy placed me into another dimension the second I dipped my wooden pen into the inkpot.
The irony of the beauty that Old English calligraphy brings to the table is rather interesting; calligraphy despite being almost always in letters and the actual English alphabet, describing it would be a sin to the details it creates. If there was one element that I would pick to attempt to explain, it would be the story every letter brings. The tale of Old English calligraphy, also known as Blackletter is that the Romans did not have space to write every word they desired, thus as any "reasonable" person in the 1700s, they decided to write extremely tightly and compact, fitting more than ever before, they were finally pleased of the outcome. From then the art started, but it wasn't an art at first, it was a simple way to not waste paper and still deliver the message of just words.
Yet today, I buy special paper for calligraphy, fancy inks for better writing and finer nibs for accuracy, a simple form of writing became a lost tale in our modern society. The fast paced world with everything at the tip of our fingers, where we can choose where we want to be, what we want, when we want it, calligraphy does the exact opposite, a combination of simple lines taking hours on end, but bringing a trance of happiness, a smile on my face as the art is complete. It may have just been alphabets for the Romans, but for me? For me it's the 4th dimension of escapism, where I can get lost from this world and found in the intricate ink strokes of calligraphy. With each letter telling a story, just like me :)
"Please reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?"
It was almost every single weekend; I would be studying with absolute utter silence, solving algebraic expressions with mindboggling speeds and boring white 432 hertz music in the background. My parents used to check in on me, glancing out of my dark room's window every few times. With judgy eyes . Every single time, we saw these 2 kids, perhaps my age, fishing near the rather giant lake that our community had. Their hearty laughter could be heard till the 3rd floor of our apartment. My parents, flashed disapproving glances in that direction. My mother whispered something in Hindi, "Isko padhai nahi karni hai kya?", ( roughly translating to "Don't they have to study anything ?" ) and my father nodded to confirm that one must study relentlessly in order to succeed, regardless of age.
When I looked at the joyous kids again, enjoying the simple pleasures of life, I questioned their understanding of success. While he seemed genuine and happy, my parents saw only irresponsibility. What does it mean to succeed? The incident made me reflect on our readiness to apply our value system to others without taking their own into account.
For my family, success was admission to an elite college, while for my neighbor, it was the size of the fish he caught that night. The problem was that both successes seemed legitimate to us, and we judged each other based on these definitions. It made me realize how unjust and meaningless it is to impose success criteria on others. This tension compelled me to observe what success means to others.
Although everyone had unique goals, we compared them to our own, limiting success to what we knew. Such an approach creates an unhealthy atmosphere of competition and envy around school and even at home. Thats when I took an oath, to change not just my own perspective and the way I treat the value of success for myself, but also for the world. From communicating to my parents and explaining them about I decided to approach my family regarding or standards of restrictions and feasibility. To even talking to my friends at times, changing mindsets whenever and wherever I can, its almost a mission with a change that may not be prevalent in the entire world, but with every person I talk to and to every situation I fix, With time, the superimposed standards of measurable success shall change. Success is diverse and rooted in individual values and passions, we as individuals have no right to judge each other on these. From that day with the elderly man and his son, to today, I follow my oath and bring change to society, one success story at a time.