It's a little long so bear with me. I think it's a bit unoriginal but it's the truth nonetheless and I'm proud of this essay. However, please give me some criticism. Post some help and I'll help you with your essay too!!
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The Man in the Glass
"You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years and get pats on the back as you pass. But your final reward will be heartache and tears if you've cheated the man in the glass".
These are closing words of Peter Dale Windrow's 1934 poem, 'The Man in the Glass'. I've never been one for poetry. In fact, I rather dislike the whimsical and formless nature of most poems. However, when my mother taped this short poem to the bathroom mirror in the summer of 2009, I was inexplicably moved by Windrow's words. This poem conveys a simple, human truth that I have learned throughout the course of my life.
We are always trying to please someone other than ourselves. It may be a fellow student, a teacher, or a parent. For me, it was my lunch table group during sophomore year. I would say I was fairly popular in the early high school years. However, many would agree that popularity in high school is not a measure of merit. I was popular because I could make people laugh at the expense of another student's humiliation. At lunch, the other students at the table would make fun of a kid named Sam. I could always see the sadness and disappointment in his eyes when the kids jeered him for the way he talked or the clothes he wore. I used to pride myself on not participating in this barrage of insults, however, it is now that I realize this was my greatest failing. I had never spoken out. I had never defended Sam. I was living for the approval of others, but not the approval of myself. During the summer of 2009, I read Windrow's poem on my bathroom mirror. My thoughts immediately turned to Sam and on the first day of junior year, I apologized to him. A few weeks later, I worked up the courage to make a small speech to my lunch table about what I truly thought. Sam and I are good friends now and we sit at our own lunch table with a few other kids. No doubt I am not as "cool" as I once was. I have even been confronted by students asking me why I sit at the losers table now. I tell them, "because that's where my friends sit". We call our table the refugee table because when kids are excluded and ridiculed, they come to at our table to eat lunch. Most of them end up staying.
In life, we seem to always be wearing masks to present a "better" version of ourselves. You can convince your friends and parents of anything. You can earn the appraisal of anyone if you choose. But at the end of day, when you look into the glass, your mask is torn off and your true nature is revealed. I have learned that it is folly to live for another's goals at the expense of your own. Instead, cherish your friendships, but always true to yourself.
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________________
The Man in the Glass
"You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years and get pats on the back as you pass. But your final reward will be heartache and tears if you've cheated the man in the glass".
These are closing words of Peter Dale Windrow's 1934 poem, 'The Man in the Glass'. I've never been one for poetry. In fact, I rather dislike the whimsical and formless nature of most poems. However, when my mother taped this short poem to the bathroom mirror in the summer of 2009, I was inexplicably moved by Windrow's words. This poem conveys a simple, human truth that I have learned throughout the course of my life.
We are always trying to please someone other than ourselves. It may be a fellow student, a teacher, or a parent. For me, it was my lunch table group during sophomore year. I would say I was fairly popular in the early high school years. However, many would agree that popularity in high school is not a measure of merit. I was popular because I could make people laugh at the expense of another student's humiliation. At lunch, the other students at the table would make fun of a kid named Sam. I could always see the sadness and disappointment in his eyes when the kids jeered him for the way he talked or the clothes he wore. I used to pride myself on not participating in this barrage of insults, however, it is now that I realize this was my greatest failing. I had never spoken out. I had never defended Sam. I was living for the approval of others, but not the approval of myself. During the summer of 2009, I read Windrow's poem on my bathroom mirror. My thoughts immediately turned to Sam and on the first day of junior year, I apologized to him. A few weeks later, I worked up the courage to make a small speech to my lunch table about what I truly thought. Sam and I are good friends now and we sit at our own lunch table with a few other kids. No doubt I am not as "cool" as I once was. I have even been confronted by students asking me why I sit at the losers table now. I tell them, "because that's where my friends sit". We call our table the refugee table because when kids are excluded and ridiculed, they come to at our table to eat lunch. Most of them end up staying.
In life, we seem to always be wearing masks to present a "better" version of ourselves. You can convince your friends and parents of anything. You can earn the appraisal of anyone if you choose. But at the end of day, when you look into the glass, your mask is torn off and your true nature is revealed. I have learned that it is folly to live for another's goals at the expense of your own. Instead, cherish your friendships, but always true to yourself.
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