Giraffe

Written in 2014 as a college application essay.

The person I am today is nothing more than a result of my interests and upbringing. I learned how to live through my favorite stories and learned how to use my talents, as well as learn new ones, to make those stories a reality.  Although public school is a disheartening factor, it has worked in tandem with my love of reading to create my aspirations and shape my life into the sort of giraffe shape it is now.

It is my experience in public school that has enabled me to describe myself like this. School is often disgruntling, we don’t learn about the things I care about and spend too much time on the things that don’t matter. That’s why I’ve been pushed to go beyond the normal learning parameters. I read about whatever subject I am interested in and learn about things that matter to me. As a result, my feet are on the ground, but my head is up in the clouds, thinking far beyond what is required.

The books I so eagerly read aren’t always just for learning. My favorite books are filled with adventure and excitement form beginning to end. These books have taught me of a world where you can choose your own destiny, and they inspire me to choose my own. I want to be smart like Hermione, brave like Frodo, and love life just as much as Despereaux the mouse. I also have begun to realize that the only thing I love more than the characters is the story. So began my aspiration of being a prolific writer, I wanted to instill emotion and thoughts in people and have some sort of impact on their understanding of life.

That is one of the ways school has been constructive for me. I have learned so many things that I can use to enhance my writing. My teachers, for the most part, have been encouraging and helpful when it comes to my aspirations. I leave school wanting to know more about a certain subject which leads me to continue the learning at home. The constant want of information has shaped my life into what I am today, a word crazy, fact spurting bookworm.

The only deterrent that school has proved to be is that it takes so much time away from me doing what I love to do so I can do boring things such as homework. I have less time to follow my fancy because excessive math gets in the way. On the occasion, a teacher will start to point out the difficulties of life and how hard everything is. This crushes the spirits of my classmates but for me it only encourages me to do the seemingly impossible.

Books have turned me into the giraffe I am now, and my schooling has both caged the giraffe and set it free.