Scholarship Essay

So...I filled out my FAFSA and submitted it today, which then led me to search out scholarships in a vain attempt to assuage my ever increasing debt from student loans. Unfortunately, even though I have no money I don't qualify for very many scholarships. About the only one I could find was from some random company of business consultants.

I'm not actually sure it applies to me, either, due to the rather vague description which reads:

"The A&F Scholarships are available to all high school juniors and seniors as well as all students currently registered in any accredited post secondary institution."

I presume that includes graduate students?

Well, I plan to enter anyway. All that it requires is an essay, written to answer this question:

"What have you done outside of the classroom that demonstrates qualities sought after by universities or other educational facilities? Of these, which means the most to you?"

My answer? Keep reading to find out. And please, let me know what you think!

The girls stared shyly at us, sneaking peeks whenever they thought we weren't looking. Our tour guide explained who we were and why we were there, then started asking questions of the class. When he asked what each girl wanted to be when she grew up, the answers surprised me. Most answered that they wanted to be a teacher, and many specified that they wanted to teach English. Other common responses were journalists and lawyers, and one particularly ambitious student even answered, “a politician.” The most remarkable part of these answers was that they were coming from young girls in Afghanistan, who for the first time were able to dream about having a life of their own choosing, instead of one chosen for them by their families.

In March of 2010 I spent ten unforgettable days in Kabul, Afghanistan as part of an educational trip to explore issues facing women there. As part of that trip we visited a school for girls run by an Afghan non-profit organization. There are 120 students at that particular school, with a long waiting list of parents who want an education for their daughters. Contrary to the opinion held by most people, Afghan parents want their children, including their daughters, to have every opportunity -- just like all parents the world over.

The main reason why I chose to go on this trip to a war zone was to see the other side of the story, to find situations like this. I knew there had to be more to the country than the war that is currently being waged there, and I wanted to see it firsthand. Everything I found in Kabul confirmed this belief. The Afghan people are the friendliest, most welcoming and gracious hosts anyone could imagine.

When I decided that I wanted to travel to Afghanistan, it was only after taking into account all of the risks associated with such a trip. Of course, it didn't help that there were two suicide attacks in Kabul a mere two days before we were supposed to fly out of the U.S. Making that decision, balancing the possible risks with the possible benefits, was quite possibly the most difficult choice I've ever had to make, but in the end I decided that the benefits definitely outweighed the risks.

Once I made the decision to go, then came all the details. And there were a LOT of details. I had to get multiple vaccinations, harangue the organization I was traveling with until they supplied me with all the necessary information needed to make all these arrangements, apply for a visa from the Afghan embassy in Washington, D.C., book my flights, including the flight from Dubai to Kabul that had to be booked separately from the rest of the itinerary, convince my family that this was the right decision and reassure them that I probably wasn't going to die, buy appropriate clothes and travel accessories, find travel insurance that would cover travel to a war zone, and ultimately provide for every contingency I could think of. Getting all of these done in less than a month was an almost Herculean task that required great persistence and efficiency on my part while sucking up all of my spare time.

However, once I stepped foot outside the airport in Kabul and actually saw the city and started to meet people, all of the effort and hard work it had taken to get there faded from my mind, as well as any residual fear of what might happen. I felt like I had come home. I adjusted to the different culture and strange city surprisingly quickly. If I experienced culture shock, it was mild enough not to leave a lasting impression. Before I went on this trip I had toyed with the idea of going into a career in aid and development work but wasn't really sure if it was a good fit for me. After visiting Afghanistan, I knew without a doubt that that was what I wanted to do. I love traveling, and I have no trouble adapting to new situations and cultures, not to mention extremely different living conditions from what I'm used to.

Every day in Kabul was crammed full of meetings with people, from women's rights activists to Members of Parliament to the director of a reconciliation organization that works to convince Taliban members to leave the Taliban and come over to the government. I took copious amounts of notes and tried to learn as much as I could. However, the most important lesson I learned in Afghanistan was that the more I learned, the less I understood. Afghan culture is complex and rooted in thousands of years of tradition. No outsider will understand it easily, or maybe even completely. There will be no easy solution to the situation there. But that doesn't mean that we should stop trying.

Photos from my trip to Afghanistan, March 1-10, 2010