Photo courtesy of Shotaro O.
By Shotaro O., ’29
Just outlining the coastlines took a month. On the solid, 22-inch by 30-inch sheet of white paper I was working on, I couldn’t just press the “undo” button if my highlighter happened to slip. I had spent two months creating a rough draft, and an additional month transferring that onto the final copy with a pencil. I then outlined that with a pen, which I was now going over with a highlighter. Messing up at this point meant losing four months of hard work. The stakes were high, but I was enjoying the process. I was already thinking about other details I could expand upon next. A steampunk society experiencing rapid technological advancements, I’d decided, would be the setting of this fantasy world. I imagined the technologies I could introduce in this setting. I thought about the economic and cultural indications these technologies would have on civilizations in this world. Meanwhile I continued to carefully move my highlighter.
“Worldbuilding” is a process of creating a fictional universe of your own; developing anything from the geography and climate of a continent to the annual holidays of a specific culture. The easiest way to visualize the process is to think about works by some fantasy authors, like J.R.R. Tolkien, or game developers. Though I am neither, this hobby is an important part of who I am; it reflects my interests, my curiosity, and my growth.
One reason I love worldbuilding is because of the sheer amount of questions I can ask. Research is critical to the process. The questions I’ve recently asked involved history (I looked at how historical nomadic empires rose to power), geology (I studied plate tectonics for a more realistic map), primatology (I researched about Great ape language to explore possibilities of interspecies communication), and computer science (I wanted to know whether computers could be invented by civilizations without electricity). The questions that worldbuilding forces me to ask open my eyes to new subjects I didn’t even know existed, and this in turn enables me to work with more sophisticated worldbuilding ideas.
Worldbuilding also allows me to show my own personality within my fantasy world. The amount of detail into the world’s history is reflective of my love for the subject. My passion for abstract strategy board games (like chess and checkers) has motivated me to develop a similar board game for my world. The extensive government systems of my republics and empires reflect my strong understanding of the legal system, gained through my participation in the school Mock Trial.
Two months later, standing over my finished map, I immediately noticed some flaws. I’d drawn the continents a bit too small, leaving an awkward blob of blank space on the top left of the map. On the bottom, the map legend’s design was noticeably underwhelming. Overall, things could definitely be better.
And yet, gazing over my creation what I most prominently felt was pride. This moment was perhaps my favorite part about worldbuilding—taking a step back and seeing what I managed to create from scratch. In 6 months, my map came to contain three continents, 100+ islands, 50+ countries, and 60+ major cities, along with road networks, major rivers, and mountain ranges. I’d also developed various sophisticated histories, cultures, and technologies accompanying the individual societies. Worldbuilding shows you what’s in your mind: stuff that amazes even yourself.
Even when the map is finished, the worldbuilding journey continues on. I’m still researching. I’m still reflecting my other passions onto my creations. My next map may identify earthquake hotspots, and it definitely will have a better organized legend. My next civilization may be built by apes, and it will surely have developed mechanical computers. Fusing knowledge, experience and imagination, the possibilities of worldbuilding are truly endless. As long as I continue to grow and learn, my world continues growing with me. I find that very exciting.
Comentarios del Comité de Admisiones
Hopkins is a place that encourages and facilitates interdisciplinary learning and exploration. Through his interest in worldbuilding, Shotaro is able to highlight skills and perspectives that will allow him to seamlessly engage in that type of interconnected study. In building his worlds, Shotaro has explored topics in history, geology, and other subjects all with the goal of creating a cohesive, well-developed, and realistic world. His essay provides ample evidence that allows our committee to imagine the ways he may similarly and effectively combine different fields of study while a student at Hopkins.
Shotaro O.“During the application process I was very frustrated by how robotic and uninteresting my resume made me seem, so I looked for essay topics that would surprise someone who had only seen my academics and extracurriculars. I was initially reluctant to write about a niche topic that didn’t appear anywhere else in my application, but over time I realized that this niche topic expressed my personality better than anything else could.”
