vh404930
Oct 15, 2017
Undergraduate / Common App Essay About My Friend That Moved - event that sparked a new understanding of myself [3]
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Any pointers or tips would be appreciated. Thank you so much
Tears streamed down my face. Blood gushed down my leg. My breath was heavy and irregular. The pain was excruciating. I could not believe that my final words would be "ow." I wished I could say goodbye to my mom. I sat there crying, waiting for an ambulance to take me to my deathbed, or an angel to take me to heaven. Neither came. I said my prayers and prepared for the worst. Suddenly, I heard a voice calling out my name. Was I hallucinating? I turned, and sure enough, my friend Ethan had come looking for me. After he laughed at me for crying because I had tripped at recess and scraped my knee on the woodchips, he made me stop crying, helped me up, and walked me to the school nurse. He was my hero.
That night, he terrorized me with an inflatable hammer until I cried.
This was the nature of our friendship. We helped each other up when we were down, we put each other down when we were up, and we laughed. It was the same way for years. Through elementary school and middle school, we were absolutely inseparable. It got to the point where at any random moment we could simultaneously turn to each other, make eye contact, and burst into laughter for no reason.
That is, until sophomore year, when he told me he would be moving to Texas. "Okay," I said. Sure, I was upset, but revealing my true sentiments would have been terribly embarrassing.
But as the day he would leave drew closer, I realized how much I would miss having him around. In fact, I realized a lot of things. We were not the same in any way. Not even close. He liked golf, I liked basketball. He liked rock, I liked rap. He liked cars, I liked computers.
Though our interests clashed, I realized we did not need to enjoy the same things to enjoy doing things together. I may have expressed displeasure when Ethan got what he wanted, and we would constantly bicker, but in truth, I was content just to spend time with him. No matter what we were doing, I was willing to try it because it was enjoyable.
His last day came, and I cried. I had grown out of my second grade crying phase, but I could not help it. I realized that I should not be ashamed to divulge my emotions. "Shame is for when you do something wrong," I told myself. I decided to be proud. I told him I would miss him, I gave him a hug, and just like that, he was gone.
I realized that a best friend is pretty valuable, and I should cherish one while I can, because valuable things are not any less volatile.
The last thing I realized was that because I had Ethan, I had not bothered cultivating other friendships. We had built a solid clique around our own relationship, and I had an abundance of friends, but I had not invested time into making bonds anywhere near as strong as with Ethan. I began to branch out, doing my best to develop deeper connections with more people and spending time with a variety of friends.
Through the wonders of modern technology and social networking platforms, I can still keep in touch with Ethan, and contact him in the blink of an eye. Of course, because of the thousand miles between us, we are not nearly as close as we once were. He has his new friends, and I have my new friends. But thanks to him, or rather his departure, I have a new perspective on interaction with both close friends and prospective friends.
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
cultivating friendship
Any pointers or tips would be appreciated. Thank you so much
Tears streamed down my face. Blood gushed down my leg. My breath was heavy and irregular. The pain was excruciating. I could not believe that my final words would be "ow." I wished I could say goodbye to my mom. I sat there crying, waiting for an ambulance to take me to my deathbed, or an angel to take me to heaven. Neither came. I said my prayers and prepared for the worst. Suddenly, I heard a voice calling out my name. Was I hallucinating? I turned, and sure enough, my friend Ethan had come looking for me. After he laughed at me for crying because I had tripped at recess and scraped my knee on the woodchips, he made me stop crying, helped me up, and walked me to the school nurse. He was my hero.
That night, he terrorized me with an inflatable hammer until I cried.
This was the nature of our friendship. We helped each other up when we were down, we put each other down when we were up, and we laughed. It was the same way for years. Through elementary school and middle school, we were absolutely inseparable. It got to the point where at any random moment we could simultaneously turn to each other, make eye contact, and burst into laughter for no reason.
That is, until sophomore year, when he told me he would be moving to Texas. "Okay," I said. Sure, I was upset, but revealing my true sentiments would have been terribly embarrassing.
But as the day he would leave drew closer, I realized how much I would miss having him around. In fact, I realized a lot of things. We were not the same in any way. Not even close. He liked golf, I liked basketball. He liked rock, I liked rap. He liked cars, I liked computers.
Though our interests clashed, I realized we did not need to enjoy the same things to enjoy doing things together. I may have expressed displeasure when Ethan got what he wanted, and we would constantly bicker, but in truth, I was content just to spend time with him. No matter what we were doing, I was willing to try it because it was enjoyable.
His last day came, and I cried. I had grown out of my second grade crying phase, but I could not help it. I realized that I should not be ashamed to divulge my emotions. "Shame is for when you do something wrong," I told myself. I decided to be proud. I told him I would miss him, I gave him a hug, and just like that, he was gone.
I realized that a best friend is pretty valuable, and I should cherish one while I can, because valuable things are not any less volatile.
The last thing I realized was that because I had Ethan, I had not bothered cultivating other friendships. We had built a solid clique around our own relationship, and I had an abundance of friends, but I had not invested time into making bonds anywhere near as strong as with Ethan. I began to branch out, doing my best to develop deeper connections with more people and spending time with a variety of friends.
Through the wonders of modern technology and social networking platforms, I can still keep in touch with Ethan, and contact him in the blink of an eye. Of course, because of the thousand miles between us, we are not nearly as close as we once were. He has his new friends, and I have my new friends. But thanks to him, or rather his departure, I have a new perspective on interaction with both close friends and prospective friends.
