Inspiration From Will Smith by Kellen

Inspiration From Will Smith by Kellen - February 2014 Scholarship Essay

Sometimes the most inspirational advice one can receive does not come in profound proses or elaborate rhetoric. It does not come in lectures or speeches, but in a colloquial fashion that anyone can understand and relate to. In this case it was in a television interview with Will Smith. That’s right, Will Smith. Actor, producer, rapper, and a person with the most ridiculous work ethic to ever cross the planet. Without his quote and idea, I may not have made a worthwhile career goal alteration in time before heading off to college.

Ever since I saw Iron Man in theatres at 12 years old, I decided that I wanted to become an engineer and build more potent weapons for the military. I wanted to be Tony Stark. At that age, I didn’t think about the consequences of constructing more powerful weapons, like how the invention of the Atomic Bomb lead to the devastation of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. I had my heart set on particle beams, anti-matter, and anything else that could make a bigger boom than nuclear fission. For 5 years I had destruction as my engineering goal, until last year, while I was scouring the internet for information on motivation for English class. One of the top search results was titled “Will Smith shares his secrets of success.” Curious, I clicked on the link, and there was Will Smith talking about success, talent, motivation, and life. Initially, the negative rapper/actor stereotype struck my brain and I disregarded everything he was explaining, until he stated “If you are not making someone else’s life better, then you are wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other people’s lives better.”

After my cultural biases had subsided about Will Smith and acting, I thought about this quote for some time, evaluating if what I planned to do with my life was actually helping anyone. Sure, if the United States had the biggest guns in the world, no other country would want to cause any trouble (hopefully), but what if the military actually decided to implement something I created to replicate Hiroshima or Nagasaki against a radical terrorist group or rogue nation? I could not live with the guilt of being indirectly responsible for millions of deaths. I needed a new goal.

As the night approached, I felt empty knowing that I had no real goal to chase while becoming an engineer. Suddenly, the garage door opened, and my Dad exited his car, griping and grabbing the back of his leg. Once he had sat down, he told me that he had a herniated disk and that his spine was compressing a nerve that is responsible for communicating leg pain to the brain. My natural scientific thought process immediately asked,” Why can’t someone make something that can replicate and replace spinal disks?” Like a sign from the heavens, I realized that I could create machines that can solve health and mobility issues, including herniated disks. I could do something that actually makes other people’s lives better. Not only did Will Smith’s quote spur me to erase any negative biases against his profession, it also focused my engineering goal onto something nobler and more beneficial to someone besides myself.