Cinnamon Toast and Sunrise Conversations by Samantha

Cinnamon Toast and Sunrise Conversations by Samantha - January 2019 Scholarship Essay

I’m a morning person. And I guess I have my Dad to blame.
My Dad, a firefighter for a large city near my hometown, worked twenty four hour shifts and often left for work before the sun came up. Because of his lengthy shifts, which often required him to be up at all hours of the night, he made the following day of his shift what I liked to call “designated nap” day.
As a child, I liked to take full advantage of the time I got to spend with him and would get up every morning before the sun came up to see him before he left for work. He would make his "famous" homemade cinnamon toast recipe and we would sit on our porch and watch the sunrise, while we talked about anything and everything until he had to leave.
While we talked about many different things, our favorite topic of conversation was the world. We talked about different countries, cultures, and people. As a travel enthusiast, my Dad knew everything there was to know about the best places to see and things to do. One morning before work, he pulled out a map of the world that was printed on a placemat. From that day on every morning he would quiz me on the the different countries around the world by pointing to a different one on the placemat and would always finish with a fun fact about that country. As a little girl I was amazed by the fact that the world was filled with so many different people and places.
Today, my love for traveling that I share with my Dad still holds true. I plan on taking a mission trip to South Africa the summer before I leave for college and want to study abroad while getting my college education.
Being a morning person has not only guided me to pursuing my interests and brought me closer to my Dad, but has also shown me just how valuable getting up early is. I find that getting up early is a key part of staying on task and helps me accomplish everything I need to get done in a day. With a morning sunrise and a plate of cinnamon toast in front of me, I feel good knowing that I am a morning person.