Please read, any criticism, whether positive or negative, will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much! No sugar-coating please!
The topic is: Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. (500 word limit)
I stared at the strange contraption and blinked. Nope, it still resembled an electric chair. "Don't worry trooper! This will straighten you up in no time!" Dr. Jackie's enthusiasm was contagious; I smiled at her suspiciously. "Of Course! But what if there's a fire...or an earthquake? How will I escape?" I asked, staring at all the straps, feeling a mixture of amusement and terror. "There's no earthquakes in Florida!" "Oh... great," I muttered sarcastically. Back at home, we installed my scoliosis chair in front of my TV. I followed Dr. Jackie's instructions religiously. Every morning and afternoon, I strapped myself to the chair begrudgingly, reminding myself that if I didn't do this I'd have to return to Dr. Castelvi, who found it imperative that I received an operation that would not only make me lose flexibility in my spine, but would also have to be repeated every ten years and could potentially leave me disabled. Some days, however, I thought that maybe losing flexibility wasn't that bad...I had never been much of a gymnast anyways. The reactions I received from my friends regarding the chair were a mixture of pity and curiosity."Aww, you spend an average of three hours a day doing scoliosis exercises? That sucks. Can I try to go on the chair?" or "Maybe, we can drag your electric chair outside during Halloween and frighten Trick-Or-Treaters!" Not surprisingly, I ended up placing the chair in my closet so no one could see it. There was an unexpected consequence to moving the chair there- I couldn't watch TV from it anymore. That's when my relationship with my chair changed. I discovered that studying actually distracted me more from the sometimes suffocating chair straps than watching TV ever did. In fact, I realized I actually enjoyed studying, and I enjoyed my rising grades even more. The little nerdy elementary-schooler inside of me revived, and I was shocked to see that she had grown up to be an intelligent young woman. I stopped watching TV altogether, preferring instead to return to my old ways of feasting on novels and research studies. Whereas I spent most of 8th and 9th grade repressing the gifted girl I had once been and instead favoring a "cool-girl" facade, I now happily shouted to the world: "I've memorized the pi number to the 15th digit...and what?!?" I felt liberated; the pursuit of knowledge had set me free. I am still required to utilize my scoliosis chair every day, but it has completely halted my spinal deformation. I no longer lie in bed, munching on pain relievers while watching Friends, convincing myself that the reason I am slacking in school is not because I want to fit in, but because my scoliosis won't let me. My biggest achievement will come when I no longer need my scoliosis chair. Until then, It'll serve as a bittersweet reminder of how important it is to never lose sight of my true potential just to fulfill other people's definition of "cool".
The topic is: Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. (500 word limit)
I stared at the strange contraption and blinked. Nope, it still resembled an electric chair. "Don't worry trooper! This will straighten you up in no time!" Dr. Jackie's enthusiasm was contagious; I smiled at her suspiciously. "Of Course! But what if there's a fire...or an earthquake? How will I escape?" I asked, staring at all the straps, feeling a mixture of amusement and terror. "There's no earthquakes in Florida!" "Oh... great," I muttered sarcastically. Back at home, we installed my scoliosis chair in front of my TV. I followed Dr. Jackie's instructions religiously. Every morning and afternoon, I strapped myself to the chair begrudgingly, reminding myself that if I didn't do this I'd have to return to Dr. Castelvi, who found it imperative that I received an operation that would not only make me lose flexibility in my spine, but would also have to be repeated every ten years and could potentially leave me disabled. Some days, however, I thought that maybe losing flexibility wasn't that bad...I had never been much of a gymnast anyways. The reactions I received from my friends regarding the chair were a mixture of pity and curiosity."Aww, you spend an average of three hours a day doing scoliosis exercises? That sucks. Can I try to go on the chair?" or "Maybe, we can drag your electric chair outside during Halloween and frighten Trick-Or-Treaters!" Not surprisingly, I ended up placing the chair in my closet so no one could see it. There was an unexpected consequence to moving the chair there- I couldn't watch TV from it anymore. That's when my relationship with my chair changed. I discovered that studying actually distracted me more from the sometimes suffocating chair straps than watching TV ever did. In fact, I realized I actually enjoyed studying, and I enjoyed my rising grades even more. The little nerdy elementary-schooler inside of me revived, and I was shocked to see that she had grown up to be an intelligent young woman. I stopped watching TV altogether, preferring instead to return to my old ways of feasting on novels and research studies. Whereas I spent most of 8th and 9th grade repressing the gifted girl I had once been and instead favoring a "cool-girl" facade, I now happily shouted to the world: "I've memorized the pi number to the 15th digit...and what?!?" I felt liberated; the pursuit of knowledge had set me free. I am still required to utilize my scoliosis chair every day, but it has completely halted my spinal deformation. I no longer lie in bed, munching on pain relievers while watching Friends, convincing myself that the reason I am slacking in school is not because I want to fit in, but because my scoliosis won't let me. My biggest achievement will come when I no longer need my scoliosis chair. Until then, It'll serve as a bittersweet reminder of how important it is to never lose sight of my true potential just to fulfill other people's definition of "cool".