Cole Jackson: A double agent

A college prompt once asked me to describe myself in a few short sentences. Surprisingly, the college essay that I wrote the most drafts for and spent the most time thinking about was this one. I spent hours trying to cram my life into a few sentences. How the hell do I describe myself? The following are some drafts for this prompt.

My name is Cole Jackson. I am a scientist at heart. If I could, I would spend the rest of my life perusing biology, studying nature, and loving what I do. In addition, I am enthralled with music and the arts.

Now, for me, that does describe my life. But, it did not take into account some other important facets of my life.

My name is Cole Jackson. I am an individual who loves the sciences and the arts. These two facets of my life are in a constant struggle. I am fascinated with nature, and the wonderful qualities of art.

Okay. Getting a bit better. But it still didn’t quite fit. It was a summary of what I do, not who I am. One last try.

My name is Cole Jackson. I am an individual interested in finding meaning and discovering humanity through the sciences and the arts.

Boom. That was it. I was a bit short on the required sentence length, but it didn’t matter. Those couple sentences rang true to me last fall and still do to this day. Though I love the sciences and am choosing to do that by profession, I follow my passion in the arts. I spend hours in the lab each week. I spend hours in the practice room each week.

Despite the significant differences between these two fields, they share a very important characteristic to me. I find meaning through both of them. I take an Eiseley-like approach to the sciences, always pondering “why?” and “how?”. In the arts, I express human emotion and feeling through music. I love both the arts and the sciences for their face value and their large, profound ability to explore humanity. 

-Cole Jackson