Admission to NYU - Admission/Application Essay Example

Living in a region for most of my life that is extremely hot and arid makes the concept of global climate change a bit of a mystery to me. Recently, I was able to visit some friends in Europe and the effects of global climate change were made more real to me. We traveled to a glacier and I was able to see just how much it had receded over the past fifty years. This was a shocking experience for me. For the first time, I could see changes caused by global climate change first hand. I am interested in this scientific phenomenon because there are so many aspects to it that connect with culture and politicsюOne point of study I would like to pursue at NYU deals with public opinion and policy on the national and international level regarding climate change. I want to understand why so many people are ambivalent about this reality. I know that up until recently, I was one of those people. Seeing a rapidly receding glacier was my wake-up call, but I do not think this is what everyone needs. Understanding the sociology and psychology underlying the denial of risk or threat is now very interesting to me. I would like to know how understanding this could translate into governmental policies that help to reduce the human activities that are exacerbating global climate change. I am not sure exactly what course of study this would fall into at NYU. I think a thorough understanding of human psychology would be a great place to start.