What a Wonderful World by Travis

What a Wonderful World by Travis - June 2014 Scholarship Essay

Life today has become more fast-paced than ever before. People are active the entire day, rushing to appointments, meetings, errands and jobs. Twenty-four hours each day has become insufficient to accomplish the work today’s society demands of us.

Recently, I had a conversation with my cousin about his previous job. His company became much stricter with their policies, causing him to work longer hours. His superior also told him to lay off numerous loyal employees. As a result of these demands, he grew unhappy with his job.

Driving through his neighborhood on the way home from work one day, my relative had an epiphany. As he traveled through the neighborhood he saw two people playing dominoes on their porch. A woman kindly greeted her mailman and engaged him in a conversation. He kissed her cheek before he went on with his route. A policeman with his sleeves rolled up was helping a young man jump start his car. Upon seeing the unspoiled simplicity of these acts, my cousin realized just how much his work controlled him, making him unable to appreciate life’s little pleasures. He pulled to the side of the road and began sobbing as Louis Armstrong’s soothing “What a Wonderful World” filled his car. From this conversation, I learned that a person can easily move through life and not notice its beauties. How many of life’s gifts have we missed because we are rushing from place to place? What have we overlooked because we are too stressed from work?

This enlightening conversation inspired my book’s premise: a man kayaking capsizes and is drowning. As his life flashes before his eyes, he reflects on the opportunities he has missed. As a father, he missed his son’s birth while away on a business trip. He opted out of a family vacation because his career came first. Countless late nights at the office made him miss the lively family conversations at the dinner table. Hanging onto his last breath, the man fights to the surface and takes the first breath of his new life, a second chance to live life to its fullest.

The message I would like readers to grasp is that life is precious and should be lived at a much slower pace. There are numerous comforts in life we miss due to our fast-paced culture. Similar to my relative and the character in the story, we still have the chance to adjust our life so we can recapture the simple pleasures it has to offer. We should not work at a job we detest, but rather do what makes us happy and savor every moment of this treasured, albeit short life.