I've been grading Pacesetters essays for days on end now. It's an essay contest for incoming freshmen at Pacific. It's a scholarship contest and the students are quite diligent in their responses. It's been interesting reading these last responses because many of the students remind me of myself when I was that age.
The prompt is, "The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." As a result, I've been reading essays that are all about peer pressure, individual identity, and that overwhelming feeling of difference, both positive and negative.
The contradiction of difference at that age is something I remember vividly. It was the thing I treasured most about myself and the thing I hated the most. I wanted to be different from those people I didn't like, but I wanted people to see me as a unique individual and to treasure that difference.
Reading through these essays has taken me back to that time and place. It's rekindled some of those feelings for a fleeting moment and I am glad for it. The rose-colored glasses have been in effect this afternoon. I'm sure I will return to my curmudgeonly ways after about fifteen more of these handwritten numbers.
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