Thursday, January 24, 2013

Day 24: Scholarships

Over the past several weeks I have been working on scholarships...which of course have to be due the same week as finals. Just what I wanted when I'm already stressed out, but none the less I think they brought some calm to my hectic life.

In all of these scholarship essays we have to provide what we hope to do with our future and what brought us to want that in life. Of course, I recently have finally made my own decision...I want to be an Imagineer...more than anything. Of course, it's a difficult position to obtain, and I often feel like maybe I'm not good enough, but at the same time I won't stop until I get to my dream.

So I thought I'd share my college application essay, as I rather like it...which I'd hope is true since I wrote it in the intention I'd be getting hopefully accepted to the college I applied to...which I did. =)

"It is early in the morning, somewhere between four and five, and the sun has yet to rise. The only light in the house comes from the hallway and the only noise from my family, gathered in the entryway making final preparations. I am excited, more excited than I have ever been, although I know my parents will tell me to stop jumping off the walls. My father pulls out the old video camera, one I have seen many times before, as it is as old as I am. Soon the familiar red light appears on the front of the camera as he begins to film, and the routine question follows, “Where are we going?”

And then my response, as old as the camera and as familiar as the little red light, “We’re going to Disney World!” the most magical place on Earth.

Throughout my life, this scene has been repeated before each family vacation, as we gather around the front door and my father pulls out the camera. No matter how much I age, my response is always the same, said with the same enthusiasm and excitement as when I was three. Disney is, in every way, my home, a safe haven from the real world filled with stress and worries. It gives me something to look forward to and something to use as an example. Disney hasn’t changed me, but it has made me who I am, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

While most see my demand for a project to be perfect to be bizarre, my closest friends know that it is not because I am paranoid, but because I have set my standards based on the examples that Disney has given me. Just as the attraction “The American Adventure” features historical figures Mark Twain and Benjamin Franklin, both as audio animatronics featuring real human hair, I took the extra effort to create a silent film for our history class with aspects of a real silent film, such as the background music and black and white appearance. If I had done anything less, I would have regretted my decision, for I did not accomplish it to the best of my ability. Another example can be found in my National History Day project, “Les Paul: A Marvel of a Man.” As a group, we decided to do an exhibit, since it would easily apply to each of our talents, consisting of researching, writing and art, or in this case, designing the exhibit. But it doesn't always work the way we plan, and our history project was no different. One member of my group felt that we should construct the exhibit using simple materials such as cardboard and paper, while I argued that since we were planning on entering this exhibit in competition, and previous competition winners were made out of materials such as wood and paint, we should do the same, even though it would require extra work. Eventually we created the exhibit out of the components I suggested, and included additional features such as an interactive timeline and decorative guitar panels. Our display advanced to state competition, something that would not have happened without my persistency to create an exhibit you would easily find in a museum, or in my mind, a Disney park.

I have lived my entire life surrounded by the magic of Disney, and it has made me the person I am today. The Disney theme parks have given me the examples of perfection I need to balance my own expectations in life, and complete tasks such as a history project to the best of my ability. I know that this mentality will follow me throughout my life, help me to improve situations, overcome obstacles and break barriers in the society around me."


Have a magical day!



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