When Life Hands You Lemons by Hannah

When Life Hands You Lemons by Hannah - February 2014 Scholarship Essay

“When life gives you lemons make grape juice and sit back and watch the world ask how you did it.”
― Tori Truax

Reading the title of my essay the familiar saying “When life hands you lemons make lemonade,” comes to mind. I’m hoping the actual quote I used surprised you. Instead of ‘make lemonade’ we are told to ‘make grape juice.’ This is the first quote that graced my mind when I read the essay prompt. I thought, ‘Oh, I could take that somewhere.’ Then I started pondering about what exactly the quote means to me. It has always been one of my favorite quotes and I believe it is because it is not your typical lemon quote and who does not enjoy the unconventional? The grape juice part surprised me so much the first time I read it that I burst into laughter (and had to tell my mom about ‘this awesome quote I just found.’)

I have taken the quote by Truax and given it a deeper meaning, though I hope I am not stretching it too far.) Although it is more of a funny quote, I believe there is a serious side (to almost all humor).

I was once told that there is some truth to every joke and I suppose I can see how that is true. Even a quote about lemons can be serious.

Let me begin by stating that everything is my personal opinion and does not reflect the view of any other person, lemon or grape.

Being extraordinary is something anyone can achieve. It is not just for the movie stars or astronauts. Everyone has the potential to be whatever and whoever they want to be. We were created to be unique, to be different. We were created to dream big and then chase those dreams with every ounce of zeal we have in our beings. In a perfect world, we were meant to encourage one another in all things and not try to hold those who are surpassing us back.

What if instead of making lemonade from the lemons that life gives you, you step from the mold and make grape juice; make grape juice and let the world ask how you did it. When they ask tell them, ‘I want to be different. I am sick of the same old lemonade from the same old lemons. I want something new and since the world is only giving me these sour old lemons I decided to do something different. I made grape juice.’

Truax’s quote, to me, is one big metaphor for obtaining an extraordinarily different surprise in life. Anyone can fall in to a cookie cutter mold and become a doctor or even a culinary artist, which just so happens to be what I am going to college for. After taking time off to pursue my other passion of Biblical studies, I am finally pursuing my love for baking and pastry arts. I get to mix my love for art, my love for baking and my love for people to make a difference in the world.

Now imagine for a moment that the lemons are our desires, the sourness being the rawness of our desires. My lemon is becoming a pastry artist and opening my own business. If I make lemonade from my lemon then I would picture my business as one that worries only about profit, getting rich and retiring early. (Now imagine that instead of lemonade I make grape juice.) Instead, I picture a business that has a lasting impact on the community, gives to the needy, hires those deemed too inexperienced, and lends a hand where able while still running a successful establishment and enjoying every second of it.

That is my dream, to open a business that helps the community; an idea that originally came from the movie Stranger Than Fiction. In the movie one of the main characters gives out baked goods to the homeless without thinking of the profit loss. My dream to open a business that helps people also comes from a friend of mine who dreams of reforming the work place. I hope to take part in her efforts by offering jobs to those with no work experience, those who have fallen on rough times and even those who have nowhere to go, in hopes of helping them succeed at their dreams in life.

Truax’s quote, “When life gives you lemons make grape juice and sit back and watch the world ask how you did it,” is not your typical inspirational quote, but it has inspired me to step from the mold and make something different of a seemingly generic thing. It has inspired me to pursue my dreams with all that I have. I hope to take the lemons that have been offered to me and make something different with them. I want to be an extraordinarily different surprise.