Questioning. It’s in our core.

“When I was applying to college, I wanted to go into a school that really cared about the why aspect of things. When I explained this concept to people in high school, they never really understood what I was talking about—like, what do I mean the why?

In history class, I ask why did this happen? Why does this proof work the way it does? Why do I have to do my homework this way? Why do I have to write my paper this way? Why did he think that way? Teachers would sometimes give me an answer. But sometimes, they just didn’t really have one outside of—‘this is what the district told us’ or ‘we’re supposed to be teaching you this is the curriculum.’ It just went like this because it did. It was kind of deflating.

Here at UChicago, there is such a huge emphasis on the why aspect of things. It’s present in every single course I’ve taken, even my calculus classes.”

Leena Saifeldawlla (photo, far right) is a member of the Class of 2026, majoring in political science from Charlotte, North Carolina. She’s a huge Carl Sagan fan, involved in the Office of Civic Engagement’s Neighborhood Schools program and is a member of UChicago’s mock trial RSO.