Google Fellowship Application

The Center for Investigative Reporting

I have been suffering from a highly infectious disease for a very long time — a disease which compels me to absorb and transmit as much knowledge as much as possible to as many people as possible. I’ve been possessed by this illness and have been compelled towards it. It’s a strange phenomenon; I’ve always had a penchant for spontaneously developing obsessive interests, especially when I’ve got lots of time (and money) on my hands, but recently things have been different — I seem to have undergone a serious transformation into a newer and better self.

With the newfound wisdom of this revelation comes a period of intensely motivated self-actualization. I suppose this is what Camus figured the early stages of the ideal “post-existential crisis ubermensch” (or whatever the hell his probably syphilitic brain convoluted into a philosophical ideal) would be like, except covered in eerily pre-pubescent facial hair. At any rate, that’s what is prompting this application — a sincere motivation to improve myself and to spread the wisdom, knowledge, and truth to the world. That is my ultimate goal, my omega — and I feel that this Google fellowship is the best place for me to utilize myself towards that end.

I’ve been immersed in music my whole life — every adult influence in my family has been either a semi-professional or professional musician. I was also a very eclectic, introverted, and curious kid, so growing up around so much music and being raised by artists and just being immersed shaped my musical taste and palette to something of a highly refined smörgåsbord. I’m bursting with ideas and music, and looking for a serious outlet — I hope I can bring what I can to enhance my host organization and stimulate thought and creativity. I’m studying classical music performance now, and so even in my daily life I am absorbed in thoughtful sound. I bring a huge knowledge of classical music to the table, and actually compose it myself — I feel that a proper music critic/journalist should know not just one genre of music well but be acquainted with as much music as possible.

The journalistic endeavor is one of the most unique available to the democratized citizen: it is he who documents that sees most clearly the truth. A journalist lives in the moment so that others may do the same when they otherwise cannot. Especially in a society rife with technological immersion (as we find ourselves in today), journalists take on an even larger responsibility — of delivering accurate, consistent, and valuable information to as many people as possible as quickly as possible. That’s what technology, and the internet, have given us — it is up to us as journalists to seize the opportunity that modernity has afforded us and truly change the world — not just our own.

The main reason I wish to apply to this fellowship, as I hope I’ve made clear, is that I love knowledge, and I love transmitting, transforming, and elucidating it. I want to learn how to do so in the best way possible, and be given the tools, experience, and resources I need to inform and change this world for the better. I hope I’ll be successful in that regard.

Essay composed as part of the application to the Google Journalism Fellowship.

@slothincarnate