Here's my second essay for the Texas A & M app, all help is appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
********************************************************************
Topic B (Freshman)
Choose an issue of importance to you-the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope-and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
********************************************************************
On a Tuesday night, when I was seven years old, my mother brought me to the Basement of Public School 97. I had not known previously what happened in the basement of this elementary school across town from where I lived, but I quickly found out. It was on that day that I had attended my first Cub Scout meeting. I never really liked the Cub scouts, but I stuck it out and a few years later, I became a Boy Scout and boy, did I love that. As a boy scout, I've literally climbed mountains, I've travelled the country and I met youth from Israel, Egypt, Canada, Sweden and Great Brittan. I've made lasting friendships, volunteered hundreds of community service hours, learned about Robert's rules of order and how to speak in front of a crowd. But more important then any of these experiences, I kept true to myself. Scouting's core values of duty to self, duty to god and duty to others have helped me shape my own values and become who I am today.
Every day as I walk the halls of my High School, I'm surrounded by violence, peer pressure, gangs, drugs and crime. I've had numerous opportunities to take up a drug addiction, but I never did. I never joined that gang, I've never been violent to my family members or friends, I never skipped school, and I've never had to deal with a teenage pregnancy. I've kept myself on the straight and narrow and I attribute this to my good upbringing, yes, but also to my involvement with the Boy Scouts.
I feel that a large problem with Americas' youth is that they go to school, they go home, they might have a few extracurricular, but they have nowhere else to turn for guidance. I am a big proponent of the Girl Scouts, The Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls and church youth groups. Being a teenager is tough, there's a lot of expectation and a lot opportunities to screw up. This isn't something most adults are willing to admit. Teens need somewhere to turn to when their parents are fighting or their grades are slipping or they go through a rough breakup. Scouting and Youth Groups help fulfill this need.
This summer, I travelled to Virginia attend and work at the National Jamboree, which is a gathering of scouts from this country and many others. While I was there, I was asked by a news reporter from CNN why I thought Scouting was still Relevant after existing for 100 years. I told him that scouting teaches values, but more than that it grooms young men and women into being productive outstanding members of society. I told him how eleven of the twelve men who walked on the moon were Boy Scouts. I told him of notable past scouts such as John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush, Bill Gates, and Sam Walden. Other notable Scouts include Robert Gates, former CIA director and President of Texas A&M University. I then asked the Reporter to look around him at the thirty thousand youth that were there and try to count how many people he thought might be drug addicts or how many obese youth he saw. I told him to look at the diversity of the and how was no visible segregation or racial hate. I talked to this reporter for the better part of an hour, but when I my mom called me the next day she told me how my speech had been cut down to an eight second clip. I was disappointed, but nonetheless, I still believe in my message. As a teenager it is important to find an outlet, people to talk to, friends outside of school, a way to achieve your goals.
Whether it is the Scouting or not, I believe all teenagers need to be part of a group that welcomes them, encourages them to be there best and pushes them to new heights. We've all heard the saying; "You never see a boat parked outside of a physiatrists office", but I think can apply to youth based groups as well. If all teens had the opportunity to join this type of a group, then they would go on to be outstanding citizens, powerful business leaders, and progressive world leaders.
...me to the Basement basement of Public School 97.
travelled traveled...
Every day as I walk the halls of my High School high school, I'm surrounded by violence, peer pressure, gangs, drugs and crime.
This summer, I travelled to Virginia to attend and work
We've all heard the saying, "You never see a boat parked outside of a psychiatrist' s office," but I think I can apply to ...
:-)
