Sand Castle

I was just rummaging through my old stuffs when I found this particular essay which was supposed to be my College essay to Fordham (which I didn't submit, thankfully enough because the english was horrible... HORRIBLE!) Anyway I haven't edited it so this is the thing. Although I very much like the ending.

Sand Castle

Once when I was at a beach building a sand castle, a kid told me that there was no use building a castle since it will be washed away by the tides (I was building near at the shore). The kid was right; the tides seemed to have destroyed my sand castle. Only molded spot stood there where once the proud castle was when I looked it up the next morning.

It occurred to me only now that the kid was not entirely right. Although the castle was destroyed, remnants of it remained and its spirit immortalized in the memory of its creator. This anecdote told me that it was the same in life; no matter how rich or how poor we are, no matter how famous or unheard of we are all subject to death (as what The Elegy Written in the Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray taught me in my 3^rd year High School). Why should we bother then to excel if we equally all die? But the thing is, we are remembered by what we did in our lifetime. We may be poor, but yet we may be remembered as one of those who fought courageously for the freedom of our country. We may be powerful, but yet be remembered as someone who plunged the world into the darkness of World War II.

So that is why, like the sand castle that I once built, I planned to make a good impression to my friends and to my fellow Bedans (Schoolmates). I ran for Student Council President and I won. This is the one that made me evolve into the person that I am right now. During my term as SC President I learned loads of stuffs, not only was I able to serve my schoolmates, I also made a lot of friends.

I learned how to trust correctly. I learned that being a leader does not just require leadership; there are other virtues that compose the essence of being a leader: wisdom, justice, trust, responsibility, belief in your men, and patience. Leading the Student Council is just like being a parent to your children. The pressures outside wasn’t difficult, it was the pressures within that I have to deal with everyday. There were oppositions, mediocrity, irresponsibility, and laziness. I have to keep them functioning for the entire student organization was at our hands. I made them understood that my duty is their duty. It was a difficult task but we were able to pull it through.

All those hard times, all those conflicts shaped me into the person that I am right now. I give third chances even though most people think it foolish to do so. I trust in people more that I believe in them so much; I believe in them that I helped them reach their limits… beyond that only themselves can help them. I’m totally different now, much more confident in myself and believe more in my capabilities.

I never knew that I was going to be this kind of person. Neither have I thought that I will be molded into the person that I am right now by a sand castle that I built when I was nine years old.