Personal Statement (Essay Sample)

Personal Statement
Name
Date
If you could create an academic course that is in the Emory spirit of collaboration, creativity, entrepreneurship and inquiry, what would it be? What impact would the course have on you and your classmates’ educational experience?
In his impressive book ‘The Morality of Meditation,’ Desteno (2013) defines meditation as the mental discipline whereby, a person thinks beyond the ordinary conditioned thinking. As a result, s/he reaches an intense state of self-awareness, which instills an indestructible sense of confidence and wellbeing. Thus, meditation facilitates the focus, concentration and self-awareness necessary to succeed not only in liberal arts but also in life. Despite its numerous benefits, the art of meditation remains largely under-practiced. Therefore, if a chance were given to me to create a new course at Emory University, I would propose a meditation course for all students. Since meditation is a broad topic, this paper will only focus on how the course would benefit the students.
Meditation has numerous psychological, physiological, physical and social benefits that can significantly improve students’ educational experience while in the meantime fostering Emory’s spirit of collaboration, creativity, entrepreneurship, and inquiry. Meditation begins with the mind and as such, it increases awareness, creativity, memory, peace of mind, intelligence, and understanding. Meditation brings one’s knowledge completely into the present moment, and this creates a feeling of oneness with the universe. Consequently, it fosters creativity by promoting the conditions necessary for insights. Besides, meditation plays a vital role in strengthening communication between the different parts of the brain. It enhances one’s memory and can thus considerably improve the academic performance of students. Notably, when thoughts are allowed to dissolve during meditation, silence dominates the mind, therefore facilitating relaxation of the mind, which is important in relieving mental stress among students (Desteno, 2013).
Meditation provides a mechanism for revealing the boundaries, illusions, conditions and worthiness that people place on themselves, others and on things. With these limitations removed, a student is free from mental barriers and can strive to understand concepts. Such a student is free to realize his/her real potential. Besides, he or she learns to accept different academic perspectives and understands other peoples’ values and contributions. Further, meditation enhances collaboration by giving a person the ability to respond, in contrast to, the ability to react. Reactions cause conflicts and hate while, on the contrary, a responsive person takes time to think clearly and respond intelligently (Desteno, 2013). Concisely, meditation nourishes the mind when overwhelmed by emotions, and this can improve students’ educational experience by promoting peaceful coexistence in the university.
The physical and physiological benefits that could improve our educational experience as Emory students include its ability to relieve physical stress. That is, tiredness increases immunity against diseases, foster emotional balance, lower blood pressure, and its anti-inflammatory effect. According to Desteno (2013), relaxation during meditation prevents diseases such as cancer since meditation boosts the natural killer of viruses and malignant cells. Emotional balance is a state of mind in which a person becomes free from any form of mental stress hence able to concentrate. During meditation, the causes of stress, such as disturbing thoughts about prior experiences of trauma or torture slowly fade away. This would facilitate the student to concentrate entirely on studies.
Meditation also produces an anti-inflammatory effect in the sense that, it reduces stress, which is the primary cause of inflammation. Infla...