William Faulkner once said,
This way of introducing a quote is a cliche... it can't 'set you apart', as people like to say these essays are supposed to do, because it is overused. The goal is to be original. Example: I do not often see kids use quotes in the middle of one of the body paragraphs of an essay like this. That would be cool, because you'd be using it to help explain the main idea of the paragraph and it would be interesting and meaningful.
But at the start of the essay it seems abrupt, and it makes it so that the reader is focused on something Faulkner said instead of something you said.
alone among creatures has an --- A word is missing here.
What I'm most concerned about is if my life experiences relate to why I want to join.
This is the concern on my mind as well. You seem to have three separate stories, one to go with each word. You really have succeeded at using one theme to thread together the various ideas in the essay, because the whole essay is structured around the quote by Faulkner. But this case is a little different, because the quote refers to three somewhat arbitrary things.
Another problem is that if you're going to use the quote to give structure to your essay you should referred to the main idea of the quote - the meaning that you can extract from it. I personally don't know what Faulkner means when he says human kind will prevail due to having an inexhaustible voice, or being alone, or being characterized by the ability to sacrifice and have endurance and so forth.
I get the sense that you find comfort and motivation in the idea of living well, as a virtuous person who works hard for the benefit of others. That is awesome. If you can explain what drives you, personally, and use the quote to help explain your message - rather than designing your message around the quote - this essay might be improved. It is already impressive, and you write very well.