In this blog post, we explore how to effectively convey a growth journey that bridges nature and the city in your EAN personal statement.
Growth Journey
The place where I grew up as a child was a beautiful region where abundant nature and buildings coexisted in harmony. It wasn’t densely populated or rapidly developed, but precisely because of that, people built only out of necessity, not greed. This allowed significant natural areas to remain preserved while the region progressed gradually. Of course, in my naive youth, I didn’t always welcome the quiet tranquility of my hometown. I often lamented why we had to live in a place deprived of the benefits of culture and development. My mother, who had lived in the city before moving to the countryside due to poor health, always felt deeply sorry for my complaints. Whenever relatives from the city visited, she would ask them to take me out to the city to play. Each time, I would get incredibly excited and agonize over what to wear.
While I now understand the value of natural harmony over human greed, I recall that back then, the beauty of the mountains and fields I grew up seeing daily didn’t satisfy me. Though I was thrilled to go to the city and see and enjoy its diverse culture, wandering around the city for long periods felt quite stifling to my body, accustomed to the clear, clean air of my hometown. Having lived in my unspoiled hometown, the moment I stepped into the city bustling with people, cars, and buildings, I was always overcome by a strange feeling of breathlessness. Why did coming here always make me feel like I was entering a world covered by a thin veil? Back then, I never imagined the difference between the city’s development and my hometown would feel so stark. I could only ponder it deeply.
School Life
Until middle school, my parents wanted me to grow up in our relatively small hometown, enjoying the abundant nature. But as I gradually grew older and needed higher education, they began preparing to send me to study in the city. They didn’t want their own ambitions to deprive me of the time to study under a more specialized curriculum and gain numerous opportunities and possibilities. From then on, I stayed at a relative’s house in the bustling city center, experiencing daily life in the city – starkly different from the tranquil atmosphere of my hometown. I had visited occasionally before, but there was a clear difference between enjoying it as a rare diversion and immersing myself in it as an everyday routine, living amidst the constant hustle and bustle.
Unlike my life back home, where I strove to live each day gently and faithfully, the city dwellers were all quick and busy, lightly consuming each passing day. Whenever I visited that city and experienced days passing by too quickly, I sometimes felt dizzy. But now that I lived there daily, I couldn’t afford the leisure I once had. Only then did I truly grasp how rare the beauty of my hometown was, something I’d taken for granted growing up. I even felt a touch of homesickness, longing desperately to return home every day. Yet, thinking of my parents who had accepted even a temporary separation for my future and potential, I couldn’t afford to waste the time given to me. Instead, I burned with ambition, striving to reach my goals as quickly as possible, rather than wasting time exploring every possible path that might unfold before me.
Strengths and Weaknesses of My Personality
I have a personality that strives to accomplish tasks at a steady, unhurried pace. This stems strongly from my childhood spent in my hometown, where nature overwhelmingly dominated and functioned more powerfully than people. There, I lived each day in harmony with the tranquil tempo of nature, rather than a life crowded with many people and diverse cultures. This became a virtue I always tried to hold onto, even during my brief time in the city. Rather than constantly calculating my remaining time and lifespan, it led me to value living a life that is as fulfilling and waste-free as possible, even if that time is limited.
Some lament that in a world advancing rapidly day by day, maintaining a leisurely attitude like mine inevitably leads to falling behind in the competition. However, I believe that whatever civilization advances at this very moment, there is no need to always race to its forefront. If striving desperately to keep up will only lead to it changing again in the near future, there is no need to obsess over every minor change. Nature has evolved over truly vast spans of time, and humans are part of that nature. I hold the desire to live relying more on the immense will of the environment that encompasses us all.
Life Philosophy
Now is the ‘Age of Harmony’. In the past, we tended to advance by somewhat damaging the resources and environment nature had preserved over long ages, all in pursuit of radical development. This was because it was a time when we had to mobilize everything immediately available to keep pace with a rapidly changing world. However, our technology has now advanced considerably, and we have gained enough leeway to reflect on and retrace the path we have taken thus far. It is like a child who unconditionally relied on their parents’ wealth and only raced toward growth, gradually growing older and reaching a stage where they can look back at their parents.
The foundation that allowed us to achieve this level of accomplishment also stems from nature’s bounty. Any person with a sense of shame must recognize how immeasurably precious the many beings sacrificed for our development truly were. Furthermore, the time has come to harmonize our civilization with nature, ensuring we provide appropriate treatment and restoration so that the very ground we stand on to live is not shaken.
Motivation and Aspirations
Having grown up in beautiful, abundant nature that shaped my character, and later moving to the city where I keenly realized how our development has often ignored nature, I was deeply impressed by your company’s philosophy. It remains true to the purpose of conforming to harmony with nature, even when constructing a single building. While we cannot now overturn all urban forms and return to the past, your company’s warmth—seeking to gradually add nature’s beauty to the bleak urban landscapes that so easily dehumanize us, thereby comforting people—has deeply moved me.
If I have the opportunity to join your company, I will strive to work with a humanistic mindset. Drawing on the sensibilities cultivated through a rich rural life, I will approach architecture-related tasks—which lean heavily toward a scientific background—while always remembering that buildings are ultimately inhabited by people. We are dedicated to the meticulous process of erecting well-constructed buildings. Yet, at the end of all that, the building remains an entity that will inevitably coexist with people, sharing the passage of time. Therefore, we harbor the desire to embark on creating buildings that touch the sensibilities of the people who will spend long periods within them.
