Undergraduate / Influential person for Common Apps-my boyfriend [12]

Growing up, I always had my parents' support, and comfort whenever I please. That is what parents are for, to love you no matter what. However, I always felt the need to be tough, and not show my feelings, or show when I hurt on the inside. Then my boyfriend came along.

I participated in sports at a young age, and continue the activities today. Throughout the carious teams, coaches, and sports, I learned to "suck it up", or keep all pain, feelings, and emotions inside myself. When my boyfriend, Nic, and I first started dating, I usually pretended nothing was wrong because we were a new couple. Months went by, and a couple arguments arose. Looking back, they were insignificant, but at the time I did not know how to deal with them. Nic always spoke his feelings with ease, and I refused to speak mine to avoid conflict. I dreaded conflict. My approach only made things worse. Nic got upset more than once due to me not wanting to talk about problems, or open up, and share my feelings.

Opening up turned out to be the hardest part. I soon realized staying tough on the outside was my shield from getting hurt. In the end, we only have ourselves to live for, and I created a mechanism to accomplish just that. My silence protected me in a comforting way, and I did not know how to change, or even where to begin.

I can remember many splitting headaches caused from trying to hold back tears in front of Nic. Tears equaled the ultimate sign of weakness through my eyes. I worked on talking more about my feelings, but I still did not want to give up my last bit of control by crying. Letting go completely is scary. I defiantly trusted Nic, but something inside of me did not want to give up the one thing I mastered, and that kept protecting me heartache after heartache.

One day, I lost it after many troubled things pilled up. Stress, school, college preparation, and working attribute to my break down. I cried after getting so upset, but did not want to talk. I kept thinking I can handle this all on my own. I have done it before, and I can certainly do it again. Nic, however, had other plans. He stayed by my side the whole time. He did not leave, or try and judge me, but simply sat there holding me till I calmed down. I realized this person was not here to tell me to "suck it up", but merely wanting to just comfort me the best he could. After this, I could finally let go. I now could talk about my feelings because I had emotional support, and comfort.

This ability to let go, and be emotional proved a useful quality. I now help friends who have problems, and realize all they need is comfort, not words, but a shoulder to cry on. Nic's quality of caring is an admirable trait that I constantly seek to mimic. He has given me a quality that will not only last forever, but help in situations that seem unrealistic, and unsolvable. My boyfriend has proven to be an influential person in my life.

Writing Feedback / Making A Difference (to save the environment) [9]

Recycling Can Save the World

Attempting to save the environment plays a vital role in my life. Tasks from recycling to turning off lights make simple differences in my ultimate goal: making our planet a healthier place. These efforts not only save money, but make my household an environmentally efficient place. In the effort taken to litter, the same effort can go towards recycling instead. As I attempted to make my difference, I found myself sitting amongst bags with ants spewing out, and horrendous stench filling the air.

People take what they have for granted each day, especially in Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States. My neighborhoods, Jersey Village, teamed up with a manufacturing company that makes hydro mulch mats out of paper. Instead of purchasing paper as a raw material, they gather the paper they acquire, from the neighborhood, for free. Both the citizens and company benefit from the free collection and reuse of the paper. Although the program initially required fifty percent participation, the neighborhood fell far short of this goal. I found this discovery that a person could not simply place a can in a trash bag, and carry it to the street for recycling pick up astounding.

Determined to keep the program going, I desired to first begin spreading the word about recycling. In order to do this, I talked to my neighborhood swim team that I swam for, and I inquired about starting a recycling program for plastics and metals discarded during swim meets. With approval, I then contacted Waste Management Company. They offered six, free containers to collect recycling. My next task involved informing people about recycling in their homes as well. To catch people's attention when striding past bins, I created bright posters with recycling details pertaining to acceptable recycling products.

In the beginning, I set up bins, and hoped for the best result possible, huge mounds of recycling. At the end of the meet, I collected the bins, and pure shock overwhelmed me. The bins overflowed with bottles, aluminum cans, and gross trash. I never expected such an outcome to occur. After the shock wore off, I faced sorting through mounds of not only recycling, but ants, bugs, filthy trash, and a horrendous stench. Sorting the collection I obtained could have been less messy, but the process proved worth it. The amount of recycling collected, originally destined for the land fill, equaled six trash bags worth. This result amounted to approximately 156 gallons worth of aluminum cans and plastics.

Whether or not my recycling effort helped, the neighborhood announced that they received enough participation to continue the program. Even though I succeeded in my goal, I still felt as if I could do more to help. Little efforts by each person add up to make a big difference, and my next task involved helping others to recycle without requiring a lot of work. My project involves getting other neighborhoods into recycling. A near by neighborhood, Winchester Country, lacks a recycling program and I wanted to help. The first step involved making flyers to pass out, and see if the people would place out recycling for me to collect. My plan involves setting a specific time period in which I would pick up the aluminum cans each Saturday from areas of the neighborhood. The only work the people would do pertains to placing cans in regular trash bags, and setting them out for pick up. If this plan succeeds, I will then contact the recycling program that goes through my neighborhood, and see if they would like to tackle one more neighborhood.

In the global scheme of things, recycling may not seem like a significant issue. However, in the United States, seventy-five percent of recyclables go into land fills, and sit there like the rest of dirty trash collected. If every family household recycled everyday items such as: shampoo and conditioner bottles, water bottles, soda cans, and microwaveable dinner trays, that effort would make a difference by cutting down on plastic made to make these containers. My ultimate goal contains influencing others to do their little part to make the earth a healthier place. A simple feat such as; turning off lights when not in the room will save energy, and cut down on electricity costs. I aspire to pursue a life style where I constantly help the environment whether it involves accumulating recycling, or planning to start more programs in the future wherever I may settle. These efforts will not only make our immediate community a better place to live, but our world as well. Also, inspiring younger generations to make a difference in our new green society would achieve great pride within me. Eventually, we can only hold ourselves accountable for our actions, by solving our environmental issue of recycling; it becomes one less issue to deal with in the world.