Life by Brandon

Life by Brandon - June 2014 Scholarship Essay

If I were to write a book it would probably be a critical analysis of the human race, as told from a growing child’s perspective. I believe children are kind of heart until taught otherwise. The book itself would be meant for just about anyone. For a teenage crowd it would be a brief walk down memory lane, followed by very common teenage problems, and then a glance at a possible future. For adults however, the book would offer a shocking look at what it was like to grow up. To see all the hatred and fear of getting old in one place might be a little intimidating to people who did not realize it was happening.

The book would likely be organized in a way that the different chapters, or a group of chapters, would simply represent the different stages of life. I believe the main character would have an older sibling, someone who he always turns to for questions and in time of need. Each set of chapters would have a theme of what the character asks the brother.

The first few chapters would focus on early childhood, roughly grade and middle school basically. The main character would go on adventures with his friends and other childish fun activities. They would sit on the playground talking about how stupid school is and how they could not wait to grow up and have some kind of extravagant job, foreshadowing that life will beat them down if they are not ready for it. They would have to face bullies which would be a reflection of inner demons to the children as well as a statement about standing up for what you think is right. This set of chapters the question for the older brother would be themed like why do other kids pick on each other. He would ask why the minority kids (hinting at racism) were picked on (perhaps one of his friends would fit that bill). The older brother could not bring himself to tell the main character that, well, society taught those kids that it is “okay” to pick on others for being “different.”

The next set of chapters would be the high school years and focus on the fear of love. It might have a cleaver, although somewhat over used, nerd-bully-girl dynamic. As I wrote this I realized it would be interesting to have the shoe on the other foot, and have the main character the bully. To realize he has become what he hated as a child, losing the girl in the end. This of course would be a humbling experience for him, after all, would not want the main character to end up a bad guy. All in all this set would be about the struggle of finding out who you are, and the realization that without indomitable will, the world will chew you up and spit you out. The questions for the older sibling would be themed about why he can’t just be himself. Why do so many people want him to be something he is not.

The Final set of chapters would be late college and the beginning of the career. I love the idea of people forgetting about money and simply pursuing what they love. I would write that the main character decided not to be a doctor, against the will of everyone in his life, and instead became a teacher. Wanting to tell the future generations about believing in themselves and that they should always follow their hearts and dreams. I believe this whole time the older sibling should have followed what society believed. Simply became an individual with a high paying job. Someone who did not make a change in the world, they simply existed. Not a bad person, just your average person (symbolism). The final question would be from the main character to his sibling. It would simply be “why didn’t you follow your dreams?” and after much thought the sibling will simply say, with deep remorse, “Because the world told me I couldn’t.”

That would conclude the story. My goal with this story would be to explain to the world how…stupid the idea of placing money above love and happiness is. How hard it is to be who you are in a world that tells you who you should be. Children are taught that money is the end all be all. That is garbage; life should not be about a big paycheck. It should be about smiling. The reason for having the older sibling is simply to show that even if a person obeys society, they can end up being miserable. Even if people did not understand all the symbolism I would pack into this book, all they would need to take away is that happiness is what matters in life. That perhaps the meaning of life is not the pursuit of monetary gain, but instead the meaning of life is to live.