Monsters and Tests by Elisabeth

Monsters and Tests by Elisabeth - June 2015 Scholarship Essay

Tests are like the terrifying monsters that live under the bed. They make you anxious and worried about their unpredictability and ever changing shapes. When the blinding white paper lands on your desk, and its big, black letters are staring up at you like eyes, hiding under the covers seems like a great idea. And the thing about these monsters is that they come in all shapes and sizes. There’s the simple, straightforward mathematical questions, the helpful multiple choice ones, the lazy open-ended and the biggest monsters of all, the essays. As for me, I prefer to tackle the big ones. If I had to choose between any of the four, I would definitely go for the essay. Of course I like the challenge, but there is so much more to it than that.

I have always loved reading since I was very small. Not knowing english and moving to America made me want to close up in a book and escape the the new and scary world around me. However, as I started to open up and learn the language, I realized that I really loved the other aspect of reading, writing. Poems, short stories, books, scripts; you name it, and I’ve tried to write it. Due to this, essay’s are so much more fun for me to do than any of the other assessments. Unlike math problems or multiple choice questions, where there is only one right answer, essays leave room for creativity and are always open to new ideas. There is never one right way to write an essay. In fact, the more free you are with it, the more exceptional and unique it will be! And, for a little girl that was lost in the world of languages, writing is where the languages met, interacted and played with each other. Writing happens when a language comes together, and essays are a big part of that factor. And so, looking at it that way, you’ll never have to fear the monster living under the bed again, because it won’t ever seem as terrifying anymore.