Alex Campanelli-Jones, one of our best from the Class of 2010, just stopped in my office to say hello while she is home for the weekend from Christopher Newport University. It was great to see her and it sounds like life at CNU is treating her well! I asked her if we could post a copy of her essay to provide an example of how you really can write about any topic and produce an excellent personal statement. Her essay received accolades from Admissions Officers last year - so hopefully it will inspire you as you work towards November 1st. If you want to hear more about CNU, just contact your college counselor for Alex's email.
Swoosh. The automatic doors slide open as I step through the entrance. I stride forward over the welcome mat, feeling my pulse quicken. The bright overhead lights shine brilliantly down upon fourteen aisles of utopia. My eyes widen at the various new displays, and my fingers begin to twitch with anticipation as my mother strolls up alongside me, pushing our cherry-red shopping cart; I know it will be filled in minutes. “Alrighty—let’s get what we need and get out”, she mutters, beginning to follow me as I head for aisle one. I don’t respond because she and I both know that’s not how I operate—when I’m in Staples, I’m in heaven. I take my sweet time.
My obsession with office supplies began the year I entered high school. I’ve always been organized; I can’t stand chaos or messiness. As I entered my pre-teens, my desire to have everything in its right place grew stronger, most likely in direct correspondence to other facets of my life I could not control, such as my parents’ impending divorce and my younger brother’s diagnosis with autism—two events which profoundly affected my youth. They caused me to mature faster, and realize that in order to do so I needed to have my act together. My freshman year of high school, I again learned quickly that I would never stay afloat for the next four years if I didn’t create an orderly system to act as my life vest. My jaw dropped as I watched several of my peers present crinkled pieces of paper as homework, claim they had lost a handout, or blatantly forget to do an assignment. How could they stand it?
It started harmlessly enough: I asked my dad to borrow a pack of Post-Its so I could stick a to-do list in my assignment notebook. The Post-Its, which he willingly supplied, were the items that began my fixation. Soon enough, I was begging my mom to take me to Staples to get more. There were so many different kinds to choose from! Orange, yellow, blue, green, pink, small, long, circle, square…Yes, I bought them all. In addition, I bought several legal pads to quench my list-making thirst, new dividers for my binders, and several white-out pens. I soon found list-making had become a passion of mine as I went through Post-Its and legal pads like water, the fate of the world’s rainforests not even registering in my mind. I clung to my life vest, needing to maintain control and order over my world.
For the past four years I have rejoiced the day when I get to go school-supply shopping. I have become a Very Important Customer at both Staples and Office Depot. I looked forward to going to my summer job working as an office assistant at my church, though I’m sure you can imagine why. Limitless access to any office supply of my choosing? Sign me up! The happiest day of my summer, however, came at senior registration, where I jubilantly purchased a new assignment planner, which had been “upgraded” from last year’s to include calendars, a bell schedule, page protectors, and dividers.
This obsession may seem nonsensical to some; maybe others can understand it completely. To me, it’s a matter of personality. I cherish and hold on to office supplies because that is how I can convey my dedication and organization to others. Whether it be as class president, as a student, or as a friend, I take pride in the fact that people see me as “the organized and dependable one”; it is one of the best parts of me that I can offer.
High school is supposedly about finding oneself and being happy—this cliché, universal odyssey on which teenagers embark on the path to self- discovery and self-actualization. The one thing I’m confident I’ve learned so far is that life comes in many shades of grey, no matter how much I long for it to stay black and white, clean-cut and simple. I will continue discovering, continue learning, and continue on my own odyssey into this new grey world that college presents me with. My Post-its and my to-do lists will come with me, but they will not define me—that is what’s most gratifying. Well, except the feeling of crossing “finish college essay” off my to-do list.
Published by KMH
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