Stanford Essay, Research Paper

Essay for Stanford

As the beast ran rampant through the streets, I couldn’t help but wonder

if my work had been for naught. Trying to salvage any remains, I chased my

dog from the room and stared at the havoc left in his wake. The city lay

in ruins; the buildings were razed. The prospect of beginning from scratch

was ponderous, but I instantly welcomed the challenge. With patience and

determination, I began returning the small plastic bricks into their

former glory; and then greater glory. Block by block I rebuilt my cities

and block by block they built me. From these Legos I learned valuable

lessons in versatility, creativity, and tenacity.

The sheer vastness of possibilities that Legos present is both

intimidating and exhilarating. The colorful blocks lay strewn about in no

particular pattern and no particular order. From this chaos virtually

anything can be created. As a child I gradually learned not to be

intimidated by the endless possibilities but to embrace them, to relish

the opportunity to create something from nothing.

A preschool teacher recommended holding me back one year. Because I

preferred the challenge of Legos to running about with the other children

on the playground, she believed that I was socially and psychologically

unprepared for school. Little did she realize that the creativity these

blocks taught me became a cornerstone for the rest of my life. The

seemingly insurmountable challenges gave me confidence and taught me to

value cooperation. Watching my Lego edifices grow slowly but surely

skyward taught me patience. Watching them fall again taught me the

tenacity to continue onwards. Remembering how each task was created piece

by piece allowed me to, line by line, memorize the works of history’s

greatest playwrights. I was able to join MEChA and help lead the Latino

community as co-president, arranging events with our two hundred members.

My organizational skills were further utilized as the commissioner of

elections.

Legos also taught me to help others and to ask for their help. I realized

that with the creativity another person at my disposal, we could build

things we had never even dreamed of on our own. During my senior year of

High School I was introduced to crew. I was enthralled by the rhythmic

grace of the sport. My dreams soon had me breathing the early morning air

nearly flying over the surface of the water. This dream seemed destined to

die unfulfilled because I grew up in a part of the country where “crew”

refers to the roadside construction teams, but before the year was out I

had convinced one of the Olympic coaches to take me under his wing. This

interest is one I would like to develop further.

As the years went by, my Lego blocks made way for the blocks of my future.

But just like my experiences with Legos, I continue to choose individual

blocks from chaos, each one bringing me closer to the life I dream of. The

spires lead up to a diploma, the drawbridge leads to a family, and the

buttresses support my lofty aspirations.