My Thoughts: Far Out The Box by Miranda

My Thoughts: Far Out The Box by Miranda - October 2018 Scholarship Essay

“Thinking outside the box” to me means giving yourself the creative authority over any project. Not having to worry whether it will be up to the standards of the person viewing it, but instead holding up to your own personal values. Meeting the requirements without being strict on how to get there or doing it completely different. It could have an infinite amount of definitions because it can be what you identify with the most. It can also apply to anything from what you wear on a daily basis to doing school work.
My first experience thinking outside the box was how I dressed. When I began middle school I noticed everyone wearing plain jeans and blouses. I never felt constricted to this way of dressing. Instead I showed up with pants covered in designs, each day something wilder. My shirts would be left side one color and right side a whole other color. My closest friends would compliment my style but others would call it weird or say it did not look nice. I even garnered the nickname of “weird pants girl” for middle school. I will never regret the way I choose to dress because it helped expand myself as an individual.
Going into high school I repeatedly got the advice of slowing down and not taking advanced classes because I would jeopardize college acceptances if I failed. Not only did I take advanced placement classes, which included four during my junior year and six in my senior year, but I also became captain of the basketball team. While this might not sound very original or creative it was to me since this ‘box thinking’ was the advice I continuously got from teachers or counselors. At my high school basketball was the sport no one believed in since varsity had not won a single game in over twenty years. During my junior year my team and I changed that even winning consecutively for weeks. By participating in the sport I was going against the majority of the school which is illustrated when I say that many of our games we barely had enough students to play.
The box is conventional thinking and thinking outside it means to think freely. With no restraints as to what is thought. By thinking outside this box most of my life I have grown personally and challenged others to do so as well. This includes my sister who never felt the need for college and I wholeheartedly supported her and she later found her true passion. Many people have a stereotype of how life should be lived however, atypical thinkers aren’t confined to this and are able to do so much more.