13. You've just written a 300-page autobiography. Send us page 217. (University of Pennsylvania)
And there it was ... the beauty.
Nothing could possible compare to what lay infront of me, in the sand and under the sun and immense heat. It still amuses me that the only thing that remained the same of the 7 wonders of the world, from my childhood, was the Great Pyramids in Egypt. Although I visited the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Taj Mahal in India, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, the Collosium in Rome, and the list goes on and on.
My memory of my maternal grandfather's story of his visit to the Great Pyramids were one that always made my imagination run wild as a child. There were many fictatious characters, but that was what made the story more interesting. It was a starry night when he reached Cairo, Egypt, and he was mesmerized by the beauty that he could see from the plane. The "smell of the beauty of the Egyptians", he would say, was the only thing that made my mind go crazy. I wanted to see whether the people still dressed in those toga-looking outfits, I wanted to see whether the women were as beautiful as they were portrayed in the books, but most of all, I wanted to see those magnificent Great Pyramids when I grew up. Touching the stones that told thousands of years of history, experiencing the rides of the camels as though he was a prince, and drinking the Egyptian alcohol which the nobility drank, made the deserts, the Pyramids, and Egypt itself seem like a dream. I promised him that I would walk on that sand, I would touch those stones, I would ride those camels, and most of all, I promised him that I would make the most of my travels around the world, especially the one where I visited Egypt.
Standing and gazing at that enormous structure infront of me, made me feel so small. It wasn't even the size that got to me at the end. The thousands of years of history that encompassed those walls made me feel like such a small part of the world in which I live in today. I had just landed a job at a hospital and wanted to work full-time for a bit. I had performed a few brain surgeries and my collegues knew that I took my job very seriously. Some used to, and still do, tease me about the fact that I work too much. But it has paid of in the end. How else would I have managed to make my trip around the world, and have done things that I would have never imagined? This was when I began to take life as it comes. Throughout my life, I was always preoccupied of trying to be the best I could possibly be, academically, that I forgot to be a good person. The pyramids reminded me of how small I really am, and made me realize that it's better to be a good person at heart, than in status, or fame, or money.
... and that is how my life changed from that, to what it is now: this moment ...
Number of Words: 528
And there it was ... the beauty.
Nothing could possible compare to what lay infront of me, in the sand and under the sun and immense heat. It still amuses me that the only thing that remained the same of the 7 wonders of the world, from my childhood, was the Great Pyramids in Egypt. Although I visited the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Taj Mahal in India, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, the Collosium in Rome, and the list goes on and on.
My memory of my maternal grandfather's story of his visit to the Great Pyramids were one that always made my imagination run wild as a child. There were many fictatious characters, but that was what made the story more interesting. It was a starry night when he reached Cairo, Egypt, and he was mesmerized by the beauty that he could see from the plane. The "smell of the beauty of the Egyptians", he would say, was the only thing that made my mind go crazy. I wanted to see whether the people still dressed in those toga-looking outfits, I wanted to see whether the women were as beautiful as they were portrayed in the books, but most of all, I wanted to see those magnificent Great Pyramids when I grew up. Touching the stones that told thousands of years of history, experiencing the rides of the camels as though he was a prince, and drinking the Egyptian alcohol which the nobility drank, made the deserts, the Pyramids, and Egypt itself seem like a dream. I promised him that I would walk on that sand, I would touch those stones, I would ride those camels, and most of all, I promised him that I would make the most of my travels around the world, especially the one where I visited Egypt.
Standing and gazing at that enormous structure infront of me, made me feel so small. It wasn't even the size that got to me at the end. The thousands of years of history that encompassed those walls made me feel like such a small part of the world in which I live in today. I had just landed a job at a hospital and wanted to work full-time for a bit. I had performed a few brain surgeries and my collegues knew that I took my job very seriously. Some used to, and still do, tease me about the fact that I work too much. But it has paid of in the end. How else would I have managed to make my trip around the world, and have done things that I would have never imagined? This was when I began to take life as it comes. Throughout my life, I was always preoccupied of trying to be the best I could possibly be, academically, that I forgot to be a good person. The pyramids reminded me of how small I really am, and made me realize that it's better to be a good person at heart, than in status, or fame, or money.
... and that is how my life changed from that, to what it is now: this moment ...
Number of Words: 528
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