Rounded Corners by Camelina

Rounded Corners by Camelina - August 2019 Scholarship Essay

When I first started school as a kindergartner in California, I believed that I would somehow magically turn into an adult the moment I turned eighteen. After all, that was the way it seemed. I saw all the adults around me knowing how to do things that I wouldn't even dream of being able to do. The most mundane things caught my attention. I wondered how a plastic card could create money out of thin air. I also wanted to know how everyone who was driving could communicate telepathically to one another about where they were going to go. They all seemed to know what they were doing. As a kid, I always wanted to get to the point where I could just waltz into a store with blazing confidence, and ask if I could have a straw without running back and asking my mother to do that for me. This drive for independence lingered in my heart as I grew up, but I came to realize not all of my answers could be given to me by just pure schooling alone.

Fast forward to now, as a third year in college, a lot of life's more mysterious mundane workings elude me. While I no longer believe that money can magically spawn out of nowhere, nor that people always know what others are thinking; I still do not know how to do a lot of things. Due to household circumstances during high school, while everyone around me was getting their driver's licenses and permits, I spent my time studying for school. I never felt bitter about this reality, but I still did wish that someone could help me take the next big step in terms of becoming more of an independent adult. I simply didn't know where to start.

Given the chance to take a gap year, I would round off a lot of the edges that I feel would help make me a more independent person. Having a whole year as an opportunity to learn more of these skills without the normal pressures from school would allow me to really focus on actually understanding them. I don't want to just learn how to drive, I want to learn how to drive well, for the safety of myself and those around me. Knowing how to drive is an important life skill, like learning how to swim. Surely, I couldn't imagine myself being suddenly thrown into a lake, but the fact that I'd know how to float could mean the difference between death and being covered in uncomfortable amounts of algae.

I'd also want to take more time to focus on using my newfound driving skill to find a job to help finish off paying for the rest of my schooling. Going to school was always one of the things that made me feel the happiest. There is something nice about being constantly challenged while in the presence of good friends. Especially now as a college student, I spend a lot of time around my peers, who help inspire me to be the best person I can be. As an artist, one of the most important things that I need is the ability to get feedback on what I'm working on. When feedback is as simple as going to lunch with some friends, or spending long nights working with others, I find myself making more creative things while surrounded by the support of other people who love the same things as I do. I'd develop more work skills and hold a job during this time so I won't loose this incredible support network that I've come to know as my friends.