Ryan Din

1) Terps are diverse. They bring intellectual, social and cultural

differences to our community. Describe the different parts of you which
will contribute to our diverse campus community.
At the age of 10, I was fascinated with learning. Experiencing new things has
always been my passion. Whether it was learning the meaning of different words,
or solving different mathematical equations, I thoroughly enjoyed the learning
process. Around the same time, I started to have an interest for animals. I would
stay up late at night reading about how ecosystems function and how different
animals interact with one another. I fell in love with nature and how an animal
adapts to the environment they are living in, galvanizing me to explore the vast
amount of knowledge that this world has.
As I grew older and my mind continued to develop, I started to realize that
everything happens for a reason. I began to consider the why in many
situations. Why are some animals aggressive and fierce? Why do cars run on
gas? Why do certain foods taste better than others? Why are there so many
different animals and species? The more questions I would ask, the more
knowledge I was able to grasp onto. My pursuit of learning had engendered me
to dig deeper into my passions through Internet research and research at my
school library. I was driven to continue my learning.
In high school, my interests went into the building blocks of those animals I was
enthralled with as a child. I wanted to learn the parts and processes of everything
on earth. Learning the different structures and properties of an atom opened my
eyes to my surrounding environment. The world is just one big set of
interconnected ecosystems, which work together like a machine. Regardless of
the reaction or process, each atom has an influence on another. Many of the
secrets about the planet are still undiscovered, which is why I strive to learn how
and why each piece of matter is networked and connected with another. As I
discover the answers to the questions I have had all of these years, my set of
knowledge will grow and expand into a large network that is similar to the large
diverse community of Terps that you are building. It comes back to the question
of Why? Why would I be a good contribution to your community? I think the
most important feature that I will add would be my strong determination and love
of learning. Your campus ecosystem is filled with an array of diverse students,
who are searching for their passion and searching to secure their futures. I
already found my passion, and hope to help my fellow scholars find theirs as a
University of Maryland Terrapin.