"Essay Instructions: Please use the space below to tell us how you believe a Rutgers education will help you achieve your personal enrichment or career goals. Only essays submitted via our website will be considered."

I have the utmost confidence that Rutgers University can both aid me and provide the opportunity to significantly contribute to my primary educational, desired career, and overall life goals. With your exceptionally well regarded campus, student diversity, educational atmosphere, brilliant programs, and the mere fact that you have recently provided the student body with the choice of this great states only NROTC program, how could it not? Offering near anything a student could desire to study and pursue, I think Rutgers certainly can make ones possibilities infinite. The experience of a world class education, new friendships, scholarly pursuits, a wonderful alumni community, and opportunities that I haven't even imagined, make the honor of being able to attend Rutgers something that is truly valuable and memorable.

From a very young age, being largely raised by my depression era paternal grandparents, I was exposed to the concepts of community, volunteer work, charity, and a future in public service and life in the military. My grandfather, a World War II sailor of the Pacific theater, would often tell me of his glory days during the war and share his lifetime of relevant wisdom whenever a opportunity it was needed appeared. Wisdom such as appreciating what beauty the world has, being accepting and open to the many curious and wonderful cultures of the earth, the horrors of war, the good and evil within man, and the happiness and sadness from friends made and lost. Most importantly, he told me that ignorance was merely a sickness, and a good education, hard work, and an open heart could provide a cure. Quite obviously, my grandfather, and my grandmother with her endless love, were and still are of great inspiration to me.

My grandparents weren't the only ones to teach me valuable life lessons, however. I must to give credit to the wonderful instructors and values of my high schools NJROTC program. The program has had a significant affect on my life, as I still practice many of the the values they instilled in us; To be honorable, courageous, committed, diligent, responsible, neat, healthy, to try my best, and to have initiative. I worked hard every year to eventually become the captain of the rifle marksmanship team and an officer of the senior staff, where I commanded upwards of 150 students. Commander Murphy, the senior instructor of the program, mentored me during this time, and years after graduating, up until his terrible and tragic passing by suicide. In a way, his death taught me the most valuable thing of all, as I had not lost someone in that manner before and it hurt almost more to be torn away from someone then to merely have them drift away by a "natural" death. I felt new purpose in my degree choice, in the potential to help the tormented free themselves in ways other than their own death.

Through all the things I consider accomplishments and experiences, I've had more than my share of failure and disappointment. I've let myself down and failed more times than I can count, but I learn from each. It might be hard, but eventually I make it around whatever obstacle stopped me. That's how I've made it as far as this very moment. I desire nothing more but to help the people of the world, and I cant imagine how better then to do it with a Rutgers education. I wish to attain degrees in psychology to heal, I wish to lead and help my fellow man in service, and one day, a life in politics perhaps, to help and lead the people of the world into a better life. None of us would be here without the trial and error of great men and women, for if you don't learn from your mistakes, you're bound to repeat them.

Alright, so because the prompt was pretty pretty lack luster in what it wanted, I searched for opinions of what others did. A lot said to spend a paragraph on the prompt, then do the rest with stuff about you, your history, your experiences, failures, and to overall tell a story. I like to think I did that but idk. Let me know and send over yours!