College Essay # 120

120. Tell about the most unforgettable experience you've ever had.

In the summer of 2005, my family had decided that we needed to experience everything American. We had already been in the country for around a year and a half, and we hadn’t really gone to see many places that categorized America as everyone sees it. So, we headed from our little home in Syracuse (in upstate New York) and made our way down to Iowa first. My parents were able to convince my aunt and uncle to join us on the family trip. They agreed, and we were on our way to make a trip across the country. The thought of that familial love is all a bit overwhelming now if I think about it. But I’ve got to say, the whole trip blew my mind away. We visited the Bryce Canyon, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Hoover Dam, the Las Vegas Strip (and enjoyed every minute of that 116 degree Fahrenheit heat), and so on and so forth. Though we did a lot of adventure-y type things like hiking and rafting and rock climbing, it was a great trip. Being a kid, I would always ask the person in the driver’s seat to honk the horn because it seemed like no one in America ever honked the horn. Maybe they did, but I had never heard it until I reached Vegas. It was amazing to see the vastness of the rocks, to feel the rush of the Colorado River, the excitement when you feel your fishing line tugging at you, and even to feel like you were going to faint in the excruciating heat.

But there was one thing that I will always remember and something that I will always keep close to my heart. Being the oldest in my family, my father had always pushed me to do sports and become strong. When I was younger, he put me in karate, in swimming, in soccer, and even in tennis. I was that son that he never had. But at heart, I was still a girl. Certain things scared me and certain things that boys did didn’t entertain me. Some times I wanted to just play with Barbie dolls and braid my hair.

We reached the Grand Canyon pretty far in our journey cross-country. We spent a couple of day looking at different places in the canyon. I remember seeing a huge boulder balancing on a sharp point on a 30 foot tall triangular rock, I remember seeing the haziness deep in the canyons, and then I remember seeing a huge face of what looked like a mountain … and it was completely open. That mountain-side-thing was called the Window. It was obvious of course. It looked like a window, a more oval window, but definitely a window. My father called me over and asked me to look at the top right hand corner of that “window.” I didn’t understand what he was telling me to look at until I really saw what he wanted me to do. I saw many people climbing up to that corner and going somewhere where a person from below couldn’t see. You “turned” some sort of corner and you disappeared … poof. First I thought it was some place where you bungee jump from or something, but I realized that it was a place where people take pictures. A tiny, slab of rock about the size of your torso where people take pictures. What kind of adventure is that? I didn’t understand why people wanted to risk their lives to take a stupid picture with something called the “Window.” It was pathetic and lame, or so I thought. My dad asked me to come and join him to take a picture. I protested a couple of times but my dad insisted. He told me that it would be the most unforgettable experience I would ever have. When I climbed up to that top right hand corner and put my right foot out on that slab, I realized that it WAS the most unforgettable experience.

My dad asked me to face him and smile. I did, but I sat there for a couple of minutes and I took that moment in. I remember seeing everything, I felt like I was watching the sky and earth meet. I could see so far out. I remember feeling insignificant and I remember feeling like everything in the world, all my problems were so small compared to what the eye can see. I remember promising myself never to back down from something that challenges you, because in the end, you will realize that you are much stronger than you think (corny as it is :p).