College Common App Essay

I have a pot of gold on my nightstand. Some may glance at this pot and glimpse a dish brimming with broken glass, but its contents are priceless to me. What it contains is much more than jagged shards; my gold is sea glass. Therein lies the vital distinction: one has undergone the rigorous processes of the ocean, and the other is just beginning its journey. It is at the end of my adventures that I discover these pieces, worn smooth by the waves, on one of my many beach combing jaunts. Now, it’s common knowledge that a broken bottle, after finding its way to the ocean, will likely wash ashore years later, weathered and harmless, no longer the hazard it once was. No one seems to realize that we are exactly like those pieces, adrift in the sea we call life. There comes a point in our lives when our perception of the world tilts so tremendously that nothing is ever the same. Mine would have to be when my grandmother passed away from Alzheimer’s in my freshman year: it was my first encounter with death. This shifting view shatters any previous notions about how life or the world works; everything must be reconsidered and questioned. During this time, we are the broken shards, needing to be handled cautiously, able to cut deeply, emotionally and physically, and often unaware of our potential danger. As we navigate the aftermath of this significant event, our experiences and actions smooth and polish and whittle us into a wiser individual, possibly with new perspectives or beliefs. We emerge more knowledgeable about ourselves and others around us; we become those beautiful fragments of sea glass. That’s not to say this is a once in a lifetime occasion. As the years progress, this ritual occurs time and time again. Perhaps it’s graduating college, or landing that first job, or picking out a ring and getting married: whatever it is, these events change the way we live enormously,

and they are constantly happening. Continuously, we are cracked and reformed and shattered and rebuilt over and over, each time attaining a higher level of understanding. In that respect, a single shard of sea glass simply isn’t enough to represent us; a whole collection of colorful, mismatched fragments better defines us. Human beings are comprised of their past experiences, memories and selves; symbolically, an assortment of sea glass. Thus, searching for sea glass holds a deeper meaning for me. Not only is it relaxing and meditative, it never fails to lift my mood. The beach is my happy place, and I have countless positive memories scattered across numerous sands and in the waves. Discovering those individual pieces will transport me back to an earlier time, one where I was still strolling along the water, but things were much different in my life. A single fragment contains a beloved remembrance, never to be forgotten. Each bit signifies a past me, a younger self that had to grow up. Collecting these shards assists me in gathering myself and my thoughts, and to reflect on my life as I journey along the beach. To me, that jar sitting proudly on my nightstand is full of all the trials and tribulations I’ve had to face. In short, it is me: a jumble of greens, blues, browns and whites, representing my many emotions, views and opinions. I have traveled through the stormy seas and come out the other side, developed as a person, seasoned, refined and ready for my next dive into the great blue unknown.