Undergraduate / 'A Nomad, a Navy Brat' - Flagler College Essay [3]

The College requires an essay, and considers it a vital component in the selection of students. Tell us something about your past experiences, present and future goals and how Flagler College fits into these goals. Be sure to stay on topic and write a carefully considered, grammatically correct essay with a minimum of 250 words.

Around the island, they call me the "Sun worshipper". They say I electrify our hometown with my smile; I inspire high-spirits and make can touch others with my exuberance. But no one knows that the sun wasn't always an eccentric, glowing orb; no one knows about the chaotic collapse of burning gases that fashioned a striking element of nature and life.

I like to think of myself as a nomad. A Navy brat, I've lived everywhere under the sun. The constant reconstruction of my attitude and repeated establishment of new friendships made an imprint on me, evident in my flamboyant character. But the courage and independence I carry throughout my life is the result of a broken childhood and a hurt heart.

My family was perfect, we made the best out of what we had, and everyone knew we loved each other more than life itself, despite not having a true home. It was a dream. Once I reached middle school, yet again at a new region of the country, I saw the true darkness.

My father, the superman of my life, skipped our family dinners, staggering in the house hours past my bedtime, completely drunk. He yelled at my mother, she returned the favor. I cried when I heard every spiteful word said by my daddy, who I had waited the entire night for.

Our house soon became a warzone. Battles were fought in every corner; my mother and father became obvious enemies, as had my sister and I. My mother and I attacked each other constantly, and in a desperate attempt to control something, I turned to bulimia, because maybe something of mine could be perfect again.

Once our broken family moved to Florida, I started freshman year in a house with thick, anxious tension, as my parents stated they were getting a divorce, without an explanation for my sister and I.

I thrived at school my freshman year, I overloading myself with projects and people, quickly becoming popular among my grade. Others saw me as a Christ loving, enthusiastic girl, while I saw myself as an imperfect object, not worthy of knowing why my family was overcome with this bitterness.

Visiting my father in DC over the holidays, I couldn't handle being in the dark anymore. He explained to my sister and me that he was gay; he couldn't be with Mom anymore. Later I found out that as well as knowing he was homosexual all his life, he bullied my mother, my nemesis back at home.

The years after that, I exploded. My grades plummeted, I threw up every meal I ate, I sought a man in high school boys, and I lost hope in God, as well as myself.

After seeing a therapist for my sophomore and junior years, I built a bond with my mother and sister, my new definition of the perfect family. Over time, I learned I don't need to binge and purge to be wonderful, and I filled the voids in my life with Christ, my passion for art, and building a relationship with my dad, who I've begun to accept for who he is. My schoolwork is returning back that of which I am capable of.

Though we hit rough spots and occasionally feel a slight sting of our past, we've all become better people, and I've started to realize that the scars of my explosion are what make me the bright star I am today.

In my lifetime, I want to shine, in a way so that others feel it. I want others to find guidance and life in me. I would like to someday become a Christian counselor to troubled youth, like I once was. By studying fine art and religion at one of Florida's hidden gems, I'd like to touch others with my drawings and adoration for God. Flagler provides a haven for people like myself to get in touch with their potential. I am sure that Flagler will help me to make a difference in this world, to be the sensational and bright Sun that I was born to be.