*Horrible original*
Spoiler
For years, I debated on what I wanted to do in life. But one day, as I was talking with my counselor, I mentioned how I've always had a hazy dream of some day becoming a film director. And that was when she suggested that I take a Theater Arts course. Initially, the world of Theater was foreign to me. But once I got around the suddenly caught in the spot light aspect, I grew to love acting. In no time, it became second nature.
But I didn't just learn about a dormant talent that I had. No, I went back to one that I had abandoned during my freshman year of school. The stress inducing atmosphere of high school gave me a serious case of writer's block. For about two years, I found no interest in writing anymore. But that all changed when Theater students were assigned to write a twenty page play.
At first, I was afraid it would be too much for me and I would just end up writing a jumbled mess of an abomination. While my screen play didn't get selected as one of the scripts that went on to be produced in the school's annual SWAD (Student written and directed plays) Festival, it did reveal to me that deep inside me, I still had my imagination.
Unlike physical strength, imagination is a virtue without boundaries. In the writing world, not even the sky is the limit. I can reach beyond the stars, the planets, even life itself. Writing has more power than any weapon of war. Because, guns and bombs don't end wars, only lives. But the treaties do end the suffering, for however short a time.
It was on the Labor Day of two thousand nine, during my senior year, when I was home alone on a day when other kids were out having fun. I sat down in front of a computer screen and typed. As my fingers flowed over the keyboard, I thought I was only writing a short story. But like a guitarist who only believed he was playing a short song, I ended up writing so much, that I knew not even a week's worth of writing could conclude.
It all started with writing about three kids in a Hummer, driving through the treacherous, icy environment after a mysterious apocalyptic war. I found myself invigorated with a purpose. These kids, I realized, had their fate resting at my fingertips. I could make them feel happy, sad, angry, but at one point, they began to experience things on their own.
When they first encountered a polar bear, “I was mesmerized by its determined strides, finding the soft thud of it's paws on the parking lot oddly soothing. With each breath, it exhaled smoke.” and then went off to meet an underground group of survivors, I knew I had to back things up.
That was how I began to write a novel. It is, by no means, easy to write a book with basically no aid, in a school were most kids don't like reading. But somehow, I managed to finish a first draft before my eighteenth birthday. The easy part had ended. Now it was time for the editing. Something that was, and still is, a challenge to me. But as I edited, I gained knowledge. I learned to make it a habit to use proper grammar, and found writing essays for school assignments an easy task.
As time went by, I continued to edit, writing many short stories along the way, one getting published in Teen Ink Magazine. While not for a particularly big magazine, the fact that it was the only magazine I submitted to gave me confidence in what I did. In time, I gave my novel in progress a name: Tears of Fire.
Months went by; months of me missing SAT testing dates, and months of college deadlines passing me by without my knowledge. But also, events to remember. I participated in my first UIL One Act Play Competition. It was a wondrous feeling, being up on stage, with a judge and an audience watching, and yet, I was oblivious to them; in my own world. I directed and, under dire circumstances, acted in my own play, winning an Honorable Mention trophy in the process.
The man giving a speech to me, and my fellow students during our preview of high school was right. The four years would go by in the blink of an eye. And now that it's done, I only wish to repeat the experience in college.
But I didn't just learn about a dormant talent that I had. No, I went back to one that I had abandoned during my freshman year of school. The stress inducing atmosphere of high school gave me a serious case of writer's block. For about two years, I found no interest in writing anymore. But that all changed when Theater students were assigned to write a twenty page play.
At first, I was afraid it would be too much for me and I would just end up writing a jumbled mess of an abomination. While my screen play didn't get selected as one of the scripts that went on to be produced in the school's annual SWAD (Student written and directed plays) Festival, it did reveal to me that deep inside me, I still had my imagination.
Unlike physical strength, imagination is a virtue without boundaries. In the writing world, not even the sky is the limit. I can reach beyond the stars, the planets, even life itself. Writing has more power than any weapon of war. Because, guns and bombs don't end wars, only lives. But the treaties do end the suffering, for however short a time.
It was on the Labor Day of two thousand nine, during my senior year, when I was home alone on a day when other kids were out having fun. I sat down in front of a computer screen and typed. As my fingers flowed over the keyboard, I thought I was only writing a short story. But like a guitarist who only believed he was playing a short song, I ended up writing so much, that I knew not even a week's worth of writing could conclude.
It all started with writing about three kids in a Hummer, driving through the treacherous, icy environment after a mysterious apocalyptic war. I found myself invigorated with a purpose. These kids, I realized, had their fate resting at my fingertips. I could make them feel happy, sad, angry, but at one point, they began to experience things on their own.
When they first encountered a polar bear, “I was mesmerized by its determined strides, finding the soft thud of it's paws on the parking lot oddly soothing. With each breath, it exhaled smoke.” and then went off to meet an underground group of survivors, I knew I had to back things up.
That was how I began to write a novel. It is, by no means, easy to write a book with basically no aid, in a school were most kids don't like reading. But somehow, I managed to finish a first draft before my eighteenth birthday. The easy part had ended. Now it was time for the editing. Something that was, and still is, a challenge to me. But as I edited, I gained knowledge. I learned to make it a habit to use proper grammar, and found writing essays for school assignments an easy task.
As time went by, I continued to edit, writing many short stories along the way, one getting published in Teen Ink Magazine. While not for a particularly big magazine, the fact that it was the only magazine I submitted to gave me confidence in what I did. In time, I gave my novel in progress a name: Tears of Fire.
Months went by; months of me missing SAT testing dates, and months of college deadlines passing me by without my knowledge. But also, events to remember. I participated in my first UIL One Act Play Competition. It was a wondrous feeling, being up on stage, with a judge and an audience watching, and yet, I was oblivious to them; in my own world. I directed and, under dire circumstances, acted in my own play, winning an Honorable Mention trophy in the process.
The man giving a speech to me, and my fellow students during our preview of high school was right. The four years would go by in the blink of an eye. And now that it's done, I only wish to repeat the experience in college.
In my junior year of high school, when I was talking with my counselor, I mentioned how I always aspired to become a film director. Initially, when she said I should enroll in a Theater Arts class, I was apprehensive. But once I got around the startling introduction, I grew to love acting. My greatest virtues are enthusiasm and ambition. Once I set my mind on something, I will complete it.
In my first year of Theater, I was cast in a play for the school's SWAD (Student Written And Directed Plays) Festival, as well as a medal for outstanding achievement in a Theater I class. My senior year, I participated in a UIL One Act Play Competition. My school won Alternate Advancing play for our production of Waiting For lefty.
That same year, I directed a play for the annual SWAD Festival. And under dire circumstances, had to take the job of acting in my own play, winning an Honorable Mention trophy in the process.
I wish to continue this study because I feel that it will be of great assistance on my journey of becoming a film director. Though they are different worlds, the collaboration among the people involved links them
Attending the University of Texas in Dallas, I plan to have my knowledge of theater broadened, learning new techniques and putting them to practice. In addition to the acting aspect, I want a deeper knowledge of how theater has progressed through the ages. And of course, I'm looking forward to enjoying learning all over again.
After completing my four years of college, I plan on attending a film school. Meanwhile, I will also look for jobs that my new degree can get me. And I will never stop pursuing my goal, until I reach it. I believe the only road to failure is giving up.
