Scholarship Essays for College Admissions

There comes a time in everyone’s life when he/she is influenced by an outside force. This force could be a person or it could be a thing. It could be a grandfather or a novel one has read. It could be anything. Whether its influence is a detriment or benefit is up to the person. The great Athenian philosopher, Socrates, impacted me in various ways. It actually begins with the writing of Phaedo, the account of Socrates’s last hours before his death. It was written by Plato, Socrates’s most famous pupil. In Phaedo Socrates explains that everyone should face death with contentment rather than fear, anger or sadness. He even states “Be of good cheer about death and know this as a truth- that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death” When he is sentenced to death by consumption of a poison, he is never more amiable and enthusiastic. Rather then spending his last hours engaging in things he never experienced, he continues to teach some friends and pupils on life, then eats and takes a bath. Grief, regret and resentment do not overcome him. His last words while approaching death are “Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius, will you remember to pay the debt?” These words enlightened me.

How could someone who is about to die say something so basic as that? From then on my outlook regarding life and death gradually began to change. I avoided being angry or sad and became enthusiastic in my ways. I used to be very shy and intimidated by everyone. However, after reading that story, I slowly became gregarious and receptive. In my early teenage years, I was very concerned with small problems and was afraid to face them. However, after encountering Phaedo I thought that if Socrates could face death with no fear, then I am able to face smaller problems with no trouble.

Several of Socrates’s other quotes made during his life also influenced me deeply. He once said “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have”. What he is saying is that if one cannot be pleased with what he has now than how can he be pleased with something he desires. This taught me to be content with what I have now because if not, how can I enjoy life? Another quote of his that relates to this is “Envy is the ulcer of the soul”, meaning that jealousy destroys one-self causing one to be despondent. I used to be jealous of someone because he dated a girl I liked. I read this quote and realized I could not have everything I wanted and actually had a life that some people desired. Everyone will have had something or someone that at one point influenced him or her in some way, I have already discovered mine.