I have been volunteering with the Wintergreen Adaptive Sports program in Nelson County, Virginia for the past three years. Volunteering entails going to Wintergreen Ski Resort on winter weekends and teaching mentally and physically disabled people how to ski and snowboard. Towards the end of winter, the program hosts an annual Mardi Gras celebration. Many people come to the event and are enthusiastic about the program. Unfortunately, most of them never come back again...
When I was little, my parents kept me occupied on planes by making puppets out of air sickness bags. Most of the time I ended up throwing up into my puppet later during the flight. The good thing about being a motion-sick kid is that nobody blames you after you’re sick. The flight attendants say things like, “Oh, you woke up from your nap and immediately vomited on your mom’s lap? Have a US Airways pin.”..
I would not have faced this issue if I could have chosen Roy Lichtenstein. He was my top choice for my end-of-the-year art history project. Unfortunately, seniors got first pick and I ended up with Shepard Fairey. Everyone has seen his most famous work, but they may not know that it is his: the iconic HOPE poster from President Obama’s 2008 campaign. Another thing most people don’t know is the legal drama surrounding the image...
Throughout my life, I have cultivated an overwhelming passion for history. It began with my father who was a history major himself during his college years. He took me to Civil War reenactments up and down the East Coast every chance he got. No matter where we were, he had a historical fact to enlighten me about everything from the Main Street Bowling Alley to the farmer across the road that grew the same kind of corn meal the original American Indians of the area used...
According to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.” The problem is that as I stare at the blankness of this paper I find myself at a loss for those essential, expressive words that will let you know the contents of my mind. What I am feeling is what I’m sure surges through every college applicant’s mind sometime during this process in our lives. How do I put myself into 500 words or less? How can I squeeze almost eighteen years of life onto one sheet of paper? How do I convey my uniqueness among 13,000 other applicants? As these thoughts pass through my mind, it also occurs to me how monumentally important these few words I select are. The contents of this sheet of paper could seriously affect the outcome of my entire life...
After spending my freshman year at the College of Charleston, I’ve learned a great deal about what I’m looking for in a potential college that I didn’t quite have figured out during my senior year of high school. I hope to enroll in the fall in a school that has a stronger, more beneficial history program that fits my interests, and a greater diversity of opportunities to offer...
During the summer of 2012, I worked as a counselor at a children’s summer camp located in the culturally diverse area of northern Virginia. I was assigned to a specific group of rising kindergartners that included many children who did not speak fluent English, and interpretation was frequently necessary...
I’m afraid of everything. I’m afraid of the dark. I’m afraid of getting sick. I’m afraid of ghosts in my basement. I’m even afraid to eat my Grandma’s cooking – those expiration dates are there for a reason! Being home alone frightens me because I never know what could happen. A robber could break in. A tree could fall and crash through the roof. The electricity could go out and I could fall down the stairs in the dark. I was never afraid of elevators until I went on the Tower of Terror at MGM Studios. Now I’m afraid of ending up in the “Twilight Zone” instead of the hotel lobby. All of these fears paralyzed me for years and I was unable to fully enjoy life...
The strong gust of wind blew my hair into my face. I was never quite sure if that air came from the train’s arrival or the loud sigh of relief coming from the people next to me. The screeching sound of metal against metal made my teeth clench, but there it was-- the Metro Blue Line heading to Los Angeles. We rushed into the small, grey cabin to find a seat...
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