College+Essay

The Assignment What I learned: For my college essay, I chose the broadest prompt, which was just a personal statement about myself. I do not think that I have ever written, re-written, and edited, a paper as much as I did to this one. I could just about recite this essay to anyone if asked what my college essay was on. I really like how I was able to intertwine imagery and my more descriptive writing, with straightforward facts and commentary on myself as a person. I think that the transition between the two is seamless, and I am really happy with the result. I worked really hard on this one.

Grilled Cheese United by the invitation of perfect weather and time to kill, the crowd found at Kaimana Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii is an odd mixture, ranging from lounging retirees to energetic surfers. As the sunrays warm the beachgoers’ temperaments, a grilled cheese sandwich is often in my hand. The grilled cheese sandwich is a dish not known for its opulent flavor, but rather its simplicity. It is comprised of two pieces of bread surrounding a single piece of cheese, and is served cut into two scalene triangles.

I have always been a fan of the simple things. I take my hotdogs plain, no ketchup no mustard, eat cereal without milk, and prefer butter with spaghetti rather than marinara sauce. This preference for the basics is extended to other aspects of my life. In educational pursuits, I latch onto overriding themes before looking at details. In regard to family, I most enjoy our time spent driving through the quiet Manoa Valley to church. I even have a bias for the classic composition notebooks, and have one for each class (differentiating in cover colors to avoid confusion).

Although the construction of a grilled cheese sandwich is simple, the flavor reveals hidden complexity. Memories of lazy days at the beach flit through my mind when I take a bite of grilled cheese; I catch a glimpse of my prune-like fingers and short legs stumbling across the hot sand. A feeling of security briefly envelops me. When I am comfortable with my surroundings, I am outspoken. My closest family and friends would not describe me as shy because they are the people with whom I am free to be myself. When a situation arises in which I am an outsider, I become extremely conscious of how others perceive me and draw quiet. However, it does not take more than a friendly smile to pull out from my shell.

At the initial bite of a grilled cheese sandwich, the sound of the crunching bread and the warmth of cheese hits you first. However, it is soon the taste of the cheese that takes over. Being as it has no vegetables or meats to accompany it, the cheese simply and easily becomes the governing taste. In this way I suppose I am like the cheese. I often find myself naturally coming into leadership positions, whether it is in a group project or as a captain of my soccer team. And just as when you first pull apart the two asymmetrical sides of the sandwich and the strings of cheese stretch out before you, leadership requires flexibility and adaptation. The opinions of others must be recognized and valued.

Sadness drifts forward from the back of my mind as I finish a grilled cheese, but I do not worry because I am certain there will be another. Whether or not it is from home, and no matter where I am, a grilled cheese will be able to draw up fading memories, and will never lose its simple, humble taste.