Serendipity545
Jan 15, 2010
Undergraduate / Georgetown Main Essay: Tell the Admissions Coucil about yourself [8]
When you are hit with the genetic double whammy of being tall and left handed, life is never simple. My day usually starts off with finding my toes, which have been left uncovered by a normal-sized blanket, numb and blue. Then, depending on how disorientated from lack of sleep I am, I might bump my head against the top of my doorframe, and sport a nice bruise for the rest of the day. As I go about my day, must resist a natural inclination to do everything the lefty way-writing in notebooks, driving a car, shaking hands, sitting in school desks, turning around to get something-usually results in several klutz attacks in a crowded hallway or an infinite amount of possible awkward moments.
Tall people usually treat their height in one of two ways: ignore it or embrace it. While it is more acceptable for a man to be tall, both genders usually opt towards the "ignore it" end of the spectrum. However, being constantly hunched over and dressing to lessen the height effect usually only brings more attention to the fact that I am well on the far side of the bell curve. From a young age, I've had my mother pushing me to accept my height and to revel in it. "Honey, people know when a tall person walks into the room. Their eyes just naturally gravitate that way. Its up to you to own that attention," she proclaimed seriously. Taking her words to heart, I quickly learned how to "own" it as my mother suggested. I became assertive and confident, knowing that people were listening to me and what I had to say. Of course, my height was not enough to let me just slide through life, I had to earn it I am avid reader and student in general, because the downside of embracing my height is to be mistaken for an aspiring model or beauty queen. I do not have any issues with models or beauty queens-I've participated in two pageants-but I also dislike being put in a neat little labeled box. My hard work at school and my passion for literature has helped me to become friends with a variety of people I would have never known if I did not push my boundaries and interests every day.
My left-handedness was not much of an issue growing up on the teasing front, because children in school are rarely observant enough to notice which hand another student writes with. When I started driving, though, complications arose. I had a week in Ireland with my mother the previous summer, and some of the people there had taught me how to drive-on the left side of the road. On the empty back roads that are the only roads in our town, I would drive thirty yards before my father would remind me that on this side of the pond, the car is supposed to be in the right lane. I can now drive safely, the DMV swears it, but my driving was a wake up call to me. I live in a predominately right-handed, left-brained world. What did that mean for me? It meant that how I see the world is different, but not necessarily wrong. The upside of living in a world that does not suit my physical differences has made me more adaptable for any situation, because for every problem there's a solution, even if it is not obvious or easy.
I am very grateful for growing up tall and left-handed, even with the problems and teasing I've had to endure. Growing up outside the range of normalcy all of my life, and taking it in stride allowed me to avoid the desperate yearning for conformity most of my friends experienced in high school. For as many things my height excluded me from, like gymnastics or horse racing, my reaction to it has opened many more doors with even more exciting possibilities, and all of them have had doorframes are tall enough for me.
-------
Any suggestions/comments/ideas for a title? It's due at 12 AM tonight (Yes, I understand its last minute.
When you are hit with the genetic double whammy of being tall and left handed, life is never simple. My day usually starts off with finding my toes, which have been left uncovered by a normal-sized blanket, numb and blue. Then, depending on how disorientated from lack of sleep I am, I might bump my head against the top of my doorframe, and sport a nice bruise for the rest of the day. As I go about my day, must resist a natural inclination to do everything the lefty way-writing in notebooks, driving a car, shaking hands, sitting in school desks, turning around to get something-usually results in several klutz attacks in a crowded hallway or an infinite amount of possible awkward moments.
Tall people usually treat their height in one of two ways: ignore it or embrace it. While it is more acceptable for a man to be tall, both genders usually opt towards the "ignore it" end of the spectrum. However, being constantly hunched over and dressing to lessen the height effect usually only brings more attention to the fact that I am well on the far side of the bell curve. From a young age, I've had my mother pushing me to accept my height and to revel in it. "Honey, people know when a tall person walks into the room. Their eyes just naturally gravitate that way. Its up to you to own that attention," she proclaimed seriously. Taking her words to heart, I quickly learned how to "own" it as my mother suggested. I became assertive and confident, knowing that people were listening to me and what I had to say. Of course, my height was not enough to let me just slide through life, I had to earn it I am avid reader and student in general, because the downside of embracing my height is to be mistaken for an aspiring model or beauty queen. I do not have any issues with models or beauty queens-I've participated in two pageants-but I also dislike being put in a neat little labeled box. My hard work at school and my passion for literature has helped me to become friends with a variety of people I would have never known if I did not push my boundaries and interests every day.
My left-handedness was not much of an issue growing up on the teasing front, because children in school are rarely observant enough to notice which hand another student writes with. When I started driving, though, complications arose. I had a week in Ireland with my mother the previous summer, and some of the people there had taught me how to drive-on the left side of the road. On the empty back roads that are the only roads in our town, I would drive thirty yards before my father would remind me that on this side of the pond, the car is supposed to be in the right lane. I can now drive safely, the DMV swears it, but my driving was a wake up call to me. I live in a predominately right-handed, left-brained world. What did that mean for me? It meant that how I see the world is different, but not necessarily wrong. The upside of living in a world that does not suit my physical differences has made me more adaptable for any situation, because for every problem there's a solution, even if it is not obvious or easy.
I am very grateful for growing up tall and left-handed, even with the problems and teasing I've had to endure. Growing up outside the range of normalcy all of my life, and taking it in stride allowed me to avoid the desperate yearning for conformity most of my friends experienced in high school. For as many things my height excluded me from, like gymnastics or horse racing, my reaction to it has opened many more doors with even more exciting possibilities, and all of them have had doorframes are tall enough for me.
-------
Any suggestions/comments/ideas for a title? It's due at 12 AM tonight (Yes, I understand its last minute.