The opening line is
"In a world where violence and corruption are normal, it is easy to get cynical about the future. When the world becomes a large pool of cynics, they are blinded by the opportunities that lay ahead. "
This line was written around 10 years back, and it has evolved. For the first edition of F1GMAT's Stanford MBA Essay Guide, I was reflecting on the horrific violence in Syria and the normalization of beheadings. But right now, with so many wars going on, suddenly, the line would make more sense. We are in one of the most violent times, and violence is not just happening in an isolated corner but recorded and distributed at scale through social media. But the essay is not about violence. It is about a person facing a setback early in childhood with the untimely death of his father. The intervention of a professor changed the applicant's life. If the world would have been led by cynics, the intervention would have never happened.
The applicant, through that opening line, is indirectly reflecting that the changes in the world are not driven by cynics. It is driven by entrepreneurs, thinkers, policymakers, and doers who see the possibility of how the world should be. The opening line serves as the foundation for a feel-good story.