Undergraduate / "Go to the head of the class!" - essay help- UF application [7]

I have to submit this today so if anyone could reply before tonight i would be very much in your debt

Prompt: In the space provided, please write a concise narrative in which you describe a meaningful event, experience or accomplishment in your life and how it will affect your college experience or your contribution to the UF campus community. You may want to reflect on your ideas about student responsibility, academic integrity, campus citizenship or a call to service.

She cut the deck. I counted the card values in my head as fast as I could and then recounted and double-checked. We were both close to the finish line, and my hand was pretty good. I felt a sense of confidence, but tried not to show it, as I laid down my hand and said, "10 points."

I caught a gleam in her eye and then she started counting out her hand. "Fifteen- two, fifteen- four, fifteen-six, a double run is fourteen and a pair is sixteen," she announced as she exultantly brandished her winning hand. My grandmother then proceeded to dance her peg across the finish line, playfully pointing out that I had lost yet again. I simply reminded myself, however, that Grandma had taught me how to play Cribbage just this week and I was still getting better. She loved games and lived for the kill, but after her celebratory gloat, Grandma Maher always encouraged me, corrected me, and then advised me on better strategy. "Play again?"

My eyes wandered across the familiar settings of my grandmother's abode and resettled on the cribbage board. As matriarch of the family, Grandma had engrafted this exceedingly uncommon card game into every family gathering holiday. The game served as a rite of passage for me, an initiation into equality. Acquiring the ability to credibly compete with the "grown-ups" at their own game dwarfed most of my other childhood accomplishments.

It was my turn to deal. At first, the time Grandma spent between moves seemed an eternity, but then I had an epiphany. I used the time to run through prospective moves and probabilities. I weighted the pros and cons of each possible course of action. The veil was lifted and I finally began to see what Grandma must have known all along-cribbage is hollow without strategy, patience, and anticipation. With my new understanding of the game, I played out each hand methodically and slowly. Her lead dwindled and then I passed her! This time, my peg would be doing the dancing.

Pricilla Maher passed away when I was twelve, only two years after our first Cribbage games, and, as I look back at her life, I see the kind of woman I hope to become. She served as a nurse in World War 2, and raised four of her own children and three adopted kids by herself. She was my grandmother, but I hope that she knows that she is also one of my greatest role models.

When I had done especially well in one of our contests, Grandma used to say, "Go to the head of the class!" I loved it when she complimented me like that. Those words are now ingrained on my memory, and I strive to do my best in everything so that, if Grandma Maher were still here, she could proudly say them again. I plan to continue her standards of hard work, perseverance, and Christ-like giving in my college career as I have done during my high school years, and I aspire to contribute to and benefit from the University of Florida's academics, community, and activities.