Northwestern College Essay

Question:
What are the unique qualities of Northwestern — and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying — that make you want to attend the University? In what ways do you hope to take advantage of the qualities you have identified?

Whenever anyone has ever asked me about my future, my response has always contained the words "graduate from Northwestern". Somehow, coming from a family of Iowans, I chose Northwestern as my favorite college at a Northwestern-Iowa football game when I was only 3 years old. From that day forward, I was the biggest Wildcat fan you could find. For six years, I attended Center for Talent Development summer classes on the NU campus for the very reason that it was on the NU campus. Walking through the famed arch on campus, even as a child many years away from college, I would say to myself, "I can see myself here" A few years later, when I decided that I wanted to be a journalist, it just so happened that there at my dream school was the best journalism school in the country. Seeing Northwestern graduates such as Mike Greenberg, Mike Wilbon, and Brent Musburger on ESPN affirmed my belief that the best school for sports journalism in particular was Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. I knew that the Medill School was the program I needed to get into have the best chance to break into sports journalism or sportscasting. Sports have always been my passion. I live, breathe and dream sports. As a young child, while other kids would be watching cartoons, I would be tuned in to Sportscenter. I have always told myself that if I find a career in sports, my life will be complete. I see no better way to be involved with sports than to be a sports journalist. The number and the exceptionally high quality of the sportswriters and sportscasters that have come through Medill leave no doubt that Medill is the best school for me. If accepted, I would take advantage of everything the Medill program has to offer. Whether it be though internships, through the Daily Northwestern, or through the WNUR radio station, I would use every opportunity to improve my journalistic ability. In fact, doing the play-by play for a Wildcat football or basketball game on WNUR would be one of the greatest thrills of my life. The Medill School of Journalism would give me the absolute best chance to succeed as a journalist. In addition to that, I believe that going to Northwestern would make me a better overall person. The rigor of the academics along with the close-knit Northwestern community would allow me to grow from a teenager to a man. If I am accepted to Northwestern, my desire to become a great journalist and a better person will drive me to do great things while at the school. Northwestern has always been a sort of familiar place for me, as I have been on the campus many, many times. But now, as I enter my college years, I hope that Northwestern University will go from a familiar place to a place I truly call home.