Undergraduate / UVA Supplement Essay - The Word; "Festive" [2]

What is your favorite word and why?

My favorite word is festive. I like festive because when the word is said, the word is felt too. I feel compelled to say the word festive in a festive, emphatic manner. Some would say this is stupid. I say, call me stupid then. There are so many great words, like festive, that are underused in the English language and it is a real shame. Reciprocally, there are also tons of words that are grossly overused. I would like to think of myself as a crusader for synonyms. Whenever I possibly can, I replace words that are boring and gray (bad) with words that are descriptive and colorful (dreadful, horrendous, atrocious). Describing a three dimension object with a two dimension word is a cardinal sin in my book. When one hears the word festive in reference to an object or event, it cloaks the direct object with an inner feeling of festivity. It transforms a dull, purposeless candle into a warm, inviting candle of friendship. It changes what was just a party into a gleeful occasion for celebrating what is good in life. Happy is just not good enough for describing how one feels during the holidays. Festive is so much better. The more my choice of words can take a person off guard, the better. It keeps me interesting and intelligent in the minds of who I am talking to. Variety is missing from our grammar and only we can take back the power of words. I am just doing my part to make the English language more festive.

Lemme know what you think!

Undergraduate / Common App Essay - Real Trophies [2]

This is my common app essay and I feel good about my topic, I just have no idea how to wrap it up. Any help on structure, content, or grammar would be amazing! Also any thoughts on how to finish it? Thanks!

I absolutely loathed getting trophies every year in rec league baseball or basketball just for participating. For me, that plastic trophy meant nothing because all I did was show up to earn it. Even the trophies our team earned for winning the losers' bracket felt cheap and meaningless to me. The real trophies were the camaraderie and sense of hard work that we developed throughout the year. In school, I have hated getting certificates of participation and certificates for passing the Standards of Learning Tests (which make sure you are learning the bare minimum required by the state). I don't want to be congratulated for doing the bare minimum required by some agency. I want to feel like what I have accomplished matters. And I don't need a trophy for that.

A trophy is only a symbol for something. It can be a symbol of victory, of participation, or of hard work. Regardless of what it stands for, it is still an inanimate object. The trophy doesn't feel a sense of satisfaction, the person does. The real trophy is inside of the presented individual. I have tons of trophies, medals, and certificates stowed away in a cedar chest. But they don't matter to me at all. They're not real. I consider my real trophies to be more useful than the trinkets stowed away at my house. My real trophies are my public speaking skills, my AP test scores, and my friends, all of whom were earned through hard work. My real trophies are the positions of leadership I have earned in Student Government, Crime Solvers, and the Virginia Student Council Association. My real trophies are my family, my sense of a job well done, and my faith. Trophies are our values and our accomplishments, not something that sits on a shelf and does nothing. We never see our best trophies.

When I leave this world, I don't want to leave a plastic trophy. I want to leave a legacy and a life filled with accomplishments. Does our society think so little of our personal constitutions that we feel that we need to give both losers and winners trophies so that nobody's feelings sre hurt? It teaches the next generation to value the wrong things. (need to finish)