When I was about 12, I was really into riding snowmobile. My brother Cody, who was 9, and I rode together all the time. One crisp, winter day, my niece, Brittany, 6, was over, and we decided it would be fun for us all to go ride our really old, beat up, yet fun snowmobile. […]
Dear Mr. Obama, Mr. Obama, my name is Scott L. There are a number of reasons why I am the best candidate for your internship this summer. I know I can work for anyone. I started my own business at the age of 8. I think I can handle being a “go-fer” for awhile. I […]
George Bernard Shaw once said, “Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” I came to this realization by experiencing a moment of impact that reshaped my perspective on life forever. For most people, these moments are influenced by outside forces of awe-inspiring individuals, but […]
Everyday I see someone with special needs. Somewhere, sometime…every day. Either at school, or walking down the sidewalk. When I see them, I think, who helps them? Who is the one that looks after them during the day? I want to be that person. My goal is to become a special education teacher. I want […]
The pen sits to the left of me and the document front and center. This is my decision. My life. My future. I look to my right, seeing another student quickly scribble her signature and continue to twirl her gum with her index finger. I peer to my left, a male student makes the loser […]
Nothing in my life prepared me for Janice. She was frail, sporting only two teeth. Her shirt, covered in shades of red, yellow and green, was dirty and stained. Her light brown hair was greasy and slicked back into a ponytail toward the bottom of her head. Her armpits were full of hair. She was […]
“Turn the music down!” It is an overused command every teenager hears from annoyed parents in response to the latest hit songs and Billboard countdowns. It invokes the quintessential image of tattooed rock ‘n’ roll fans jamming with a guitar in hand while displaying their “If the Music’s Too Loud, Then You’re Too Old” shirt […]
I sat going through the board quietly doing my work.My instructor requested how I appreciated the new college. I merely replied, “ It’s good.” I attempted to focus again on my work however acquired distracted by a cluster ofkids in the again whispering. I struggled to catch each element of the dialog however positively held […]
“The feller whose verdict counts most in your life, is the guy staring back from the glass.” The Guy in the Glass, a poem by Dave Wimbrow, tells the most important life lesson; if you have cheated yourself, your life really does not mean anything. I had this poem read to me right before my […]
In 1984, at the end of second grade at the America School in Japan(ASIJ), my parents were told I couldn’t return to school because of my behavioral and learning difficulties. By 1995 my parents would read in the Stamford Advocate that I was a commended National Merit scholar. In fourth grade I could barely read; […]