Stargirl by Jacqueline

Stargirl by Jacqueline - April 2014 Scholarship Essay

I was helping out in the middle school book fair when I was offered a free book in excange for my time and efforts. To be quite frank, I was not much of a reader at all at this time. I looked around trying to see if any books grabbed my attention and I believe the only reason I picked up Jerry Spinelli's "Love, Stargirl" was because the simple cover somehow attrated me to it. I was in the sixth grade when I got myself to read that book and to this day I have not forgotten it.

The main character of the book, Stargirl, has influenced me in a way that no other fictional character has. At times, i even convince myself that I have never met a living person who is like her. Stargirl was a young, I imagine beautiful, girl who was in high school. She seemed to me as the most serene character I had known. She was free-spirited, open-minded, kind, in touch with nature,independent and courageous. Stargirl was her own person and did not let the opinions of other mold her into becoming something different, nor did she allow her happiness to depend on another person. One of the most interesting things I found about this character was that she seemed to view the world around her as a work of art; she was aware of the diversity in it, but also chose to learn from it. It was little things she did that spoke out most to me. There was an empty field by her home where she'd go in and take in the beauties of nature. She would spend time at the local park just meditating. She was willing to speak to whomever no matter their age. She appreciated things most take for granted, such as hummingbirds or the natural beauty behind the moon. She was the type of person who only comes around once in a lifetime, and to me it seemed magical.

The older I get, the more I feel I connect with the character who was Stargirl. I look at this great big world and I love it, I just want to go out and learn about it. I like learning from people, I like going down roads I haven't been down before, and I love finding the figurative gems that each small town has to offer. My hopes are that I may one day become just as magical as she was. There is no greater beauty than in being to able to enjy life the way she did.