Scholarship Writing with Cynthia

“I am so proud of you for going and trying to win this scholarship. Your parents would be so happy.” -Grandma

To be honest, writing isn’t really of my strongest subjects, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t one of my favorites. It’d be nice to actually excel at something I really enjoy, but not everyone is good at everything. Scholarship writing definitely isn’t something that I would start on my own. At the beginning of the month, my English teacher posted a link to our class’ Facebook page about a scholarship offered by Chipotle. Ten winners will get $20,000 and their stories on the cups and bags at Chipotle. The prompt? Write an original and amazing essay about a time when food created a memory in 1700 characters or less.

I knew the character count would be a set back, since I tend to ramble on and on about unrelated things in my writing. I wasn’t going to do it, until I went back to my grandma’s house and was inspired about the perfect story to write. 1700 hundred characters? It was going to be a problem, but I thought I had it in me.

The very next day I went back to my English teacher, Mr. Ziebarth, and asked him for his help. A scholarship winning piece wasn’t going to write itself, and I definitely needed guidance. I had a great idea, I just wasn’t sure how to get it out in words.

I grew up with my grandma. Her house was the only house I bothered familiarizing myself with, because that’s where I always ended up when the moon came out. She was my backbone, my support, for as long as I could remember. This story had to be about her. Luckily, I already had something up my sleeve to start with. Back in November, Mr. Z assigned us an essay, defining a word that we were familiar with. My word, Sriracha. Growing up with Grandma was like growing up in Vietnam, without the cheap motorcycles and squatting, and for some reason, she really liked Sriracha. Grandma always said that the preservatives in Sriracha are much better than the pesticides in “fresh” chilis. Sriracha was the HOLY GRAIL at my grandma’s house. Naturally, I had to write something about my grandma and Sriracha, since both were such a huge part in my life.

When I told her about the scholarship that I was writing for, the smile on her face was all I needed to see to know that I was doing would be somewhat beneficial. Even if I didn’t win, Grandma’s smile would be enough because she’s definitely worth more than $20,000, and her happiness is what matters to me.

The whole writing process was more than difficult. I wanted to give up at one point because I had no idea how to get my thoughts out or fix what thoughts I already had. It wasn’t easy keeping within the character count or finding creative ways to express what I wanted to say, but I got it done, and I’m honestly proud of myself for getting it done.

Thanks to Mr. Z for helping me write my essay for the scholarship! Your comments and guidance worked wonders!

-Cynthia

Simple Changes with Cynthia

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
-Leo Tolstoy

I think the thing that I’ve always been afraid of is change, whether it be big change, little change, or any kind of change. I like knowing how things are, and how things are going to be. New things usually don’t sit well with me. There’s just something about not knowing what’s going to happen that really gets to me.

This weekend, my mom totally got me to leave my shell. She convinced me to change things up a bit. Instead of just getting my regular trim, mom encouraged me to cut my hair a little shorter. 8 whole inches.

I think the last time my hair was this short was 1st grade. It’s definitely been a long time. My long hair was probably one of the things on my body that I was the most proud of. I took pride in being able to have long hair yet still keeping it clean and healthy. No split ends. No dryness. Nothing bad. My hair was the one thing I felt like I did right. And now, it’s gone.

It’s gone, but I’m happy. I feel free, and I feel good. I was always scared to cut my hair, because it takes a long time to grow, but this feels great. I’m honestly so proud of myself for deciding to make this change.

Creative Common by Martin Smith

Change actually feels amazing, and this simple change was exactly what I needed. Nothing too big, but nothing too small either. It is going to take some time for my hair to grow back, but it’s going to be time that I’ll enjoy.

My mom told me that change isn’t going to define who I am; how I deal with change defines who I am. And I think I’m going to handle this pretty well.

So to whoever is reading this, I really want you to go out and take that risk. Do whatever it is that you were scared to. It’ll feel great. Make that change. Maybe it’ll be worth it, maybe it won’t. At least you’ll know, and at least you won’t be scared of it anymore.

-Cynthia