Summary: This is my essay for the common application prompt 5
Prompt: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. [Revised]
There are 7 billion people spread across 7 continents in our planet and for some reason 3,000 of them ended up in a small rural town in south Texas. I was one of these people, I had been living in the small town of Columbus Texas since I was able to say its name. To describe Columbus would be to describe any number of the cramped backwood towns dotting the map, decrepit and old-fashioned, full of rumors but still, it was my home. I had been there since I could remember it was the only place I felt comfortable and at home, it was all I had known. That would all change when I stepped out of the airport In Dublin, Ireland thousands of miles away from home.
I remember the day pretty vividly, I was roaming the hallways locating my next class when I noticed a large poster had been put up. Usually, you would read the construed words of a poster telling you this or that, my eyes, however, darted immediately to the sprawling city landscapes depicted in the photos below. Large stone buildings outlining brick streets coming together to depict a lively city of some land I had not known. In that moment I felt I was there I could feel stone beneath my feet, I could see the lights shining from the streets, and I could hear the chatter of a foreign language surrounding my ears.
This was a poster for a school trip to Europe specifically Ireland, London, and whales. To learn I might have the opportunity to see more than just the corner of the world I had known for so long was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. It didn't much convincing surprisingly my parents were on board with the idea, my father and I would start preparing for the trip. Though I was definitely excited there was a looming fear in the back of my mind, I didn't know what really to expect or what I would experience there, would I like it? All I had known was Columbus Texas where I felt comfortable and knew practically everyone, and now I would be traveling thousands of miles to a foreign country. Part of me wanted to remain at home and just stick with what I knew, what was familiar to me.
After waiting for nearly a year for the day to arrive when we would make our journey it finally came. The day I strangely feared yet anticipated, regardless of my fears we went. Flying was strange It was like time had stopped and we stood outside of it being transported far away flying towards the sun and thought it took hours we arrived when we had left. The fear was still in my head when I stepped outside of that plane, I was nervous and uncomfortable but I had made it. When I walked out of the airport and into the street it was surreal I had the same feeling I had back then in the hallway when I stared into that poster it was almost as if I had stepped right into it I could hear people speaking a language I did not recognize , lights of various streets lamps and signs pierce my gaze as I admired the architecture I had only dream to see.
That trip helped me grow as a person in many ways. I went from fearing the unknown and unfamiliar to embracing it.The fear that I would be lost a stranger in a new world unlike any other was a real fear, but I learned something from it. It's like Jim Morrison said, "There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors."I stepped through that door into the unknown outside of the only home I had ever known and I emerged a new person because of it.
Prompt: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. [Revised]
From Columbus, Texas to Dublin, Ireland
There are 7 billion people spread across 7 continents in our planet and for some reason 3,000 of them ended up in a small rural town in south Texas. I was one of these people, I had been living in the small town of Columbus Texas since I was able to say its name. To describe Columbus would be to describe any number of the cramped backwood towns dotting the map, decrepit and old-fashioned, full of rumors but still, it was my home. I had been there since I could remember it was the only place I felt comfortable and at home, it was all I had known. That would all change when I stepped out of the airport In Dublin, Ireland thousands of miles away from home.
I remember the day pretty vividly, I was roaming the hallways locating my next class when I noticed a large poster had been put up. Usually, you would read the construed words of a poster telling you this or that, my eyes, however, darted immediately to the sprawling city landscapes depicted in the photos below. Large stone buildings outlining brick streets coming together to depict a lively city of some land I had not known. In that moment I felt I was there I could feel stone beneath my feet, I could see the lights shining from the streets, and I could hear the chatter of a foreign language surrounding my ears.
This was a poster for a school trip to Europe specifically Ireland, London, and whales. To learn I might have the opportunity to see more than just the corner of the world I had known for so long was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. It didn't much convincing surprisingly my parents were on board with the idea, my father and I would start preparing for the trip. Though I was definitely excited there was a looming fear in the back of my mind, I didn't know what really to expect or what I would experience there, would I like it? All I had known was Columbus Texas where I felt comfortable and knew practically everyone, and now I would be traveling thousands of miles to a foreign country. Part of me wanted to remain at home and just stick with what I knew, what was familiar to me.
After waiting for nearly a year for the day to arrive when we would make our journey it finally came. The day I strangely feared yet anticipated, regardless of my fears we went. Flying was strange It was like time had stopped and we stood outside of it being transported far away flying towards the sun and thought it took hours we arrived when we had left. The fear was still in my head when I stepped outside of that plane, I was nervous and uncomfortable but I had made it. When I walked out of the airport and into the street it was surreal I had the same feeling I had back then in the hallway when I stared into that poster it was almost as if I had stepped right into it I could hear people speaking a language I did not recognize , lights of various streets lamps and signs pierce my gaze as I admired the architecture I had only dream to see.
That trip helped me grow as a person in many ways. I went from fearing the unknown and unfamiliar to embracing it.The fear that I would be lost a stranger in a new world unlike any other was a real fear, but I learned something from it. It's like Jim Morrison said, "There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors."I stepped through that door into the unknown outside of the only home I had ever known and I emerged a new person because of it.
