2024 ACADEMIC ELITE ESSAYS - PART THREE
This is our final article sharing some of the outstanding essays from our 2024 Academic Elite Team Award. What a fun journey it has been to highlight the thoughts, insights and stories from our MMSST members. This is truly a stellar group of young student/athletes who juggle rigorous school schedules along with demands of participating in a challenging sport. We are inspired by these youth and commend them for their efforts.
This application is not just a questionnaire for one to fill in the blanks. A short essay is required with age appropriate prompts.
Elementary School Students:
You get to make a new national holiday. What is it about and how do you celebrate?
Middle School Students:
Write about a time that you were brave.
High School Students:
Discuss why mental health is just as important as physical health.
ANDREW PARK – 8th GRADE
Bravery is something that every person has. It's the characteristics of having courage and being confident when facing a challenge. Every person has been brave at least once. Now I will share one of my experiences where I showed bravery. One encounter I had with bravery was when I was facing my fear. This story about me facing my fear might sound stupid but it's still the time I showed courage.
It was about 8:30 PM at my house. My mom was at work and my dad was in his room. I was doing some homework in my bedroom. As I was doing my math problems, I began to hear a sound that felt like a mix of clicking and buzzing. I was unsure where it was coming from, so I continued with my homework. Ten minutes later, the noise is still going, and I'm beginning to get annoyed so I look around my room to see where it's coming from. I look up in the top right corner of the room, and a giant fly is buzzing around and making a ruckus. I remember this fly being a little larger than a big croc charm. What I hated most about it was its buzzing. That night I got scared and ran out of my room. I got my dad and he killed the fly.
About a month later in Mammoth, I had just finished skiing for the day and I got home. As I walk upstairs there's a giant fly on the wall right next to my bed. Flies were pretty common in our Mammoth condo. I got disgusted, but I realized that I would have to kill the fly. I ran to the bathroom, grabbed a tissue, and climbed back onto my bed so I could kill that fly. As soon as I climbed up, the fly started buzzing and it started flying to a different wall. I was nervous because I hated flies but I ended up killing it on the second wall when I climbed up on the desk.
I was terrified of bugs. They disgusted me. They still disgust me when I think about them and their noises. I used to hide from them but after that brave experience, I can kill them with less fear.
MIRA SHAH – 5th GRADE
Every month there is a celebration or a holiday somewhere in the world, most days there are celebrations like birthdays or retirement parties. Although these are very important and special events to acknowledge, over the years people are forgetting to recognize and celebrate education. Since books are a main source of learning there should be a new holiday in the spring, International Book Day!
International Book Day is more than a single day, but a full week where everyone around the world recognizes the power of books and how they have influenced and changed so many lives to create a functional society. Books have taught young and old people many lessons to maintain a balance between fantasy and reality.
The celebration of books takes place around the world and is different in every country but tells the same message: we recognize, celebrate and appreciate education and books to keep our world in a good place and to make it better for the next generations to come. Each country will celebrate this holiday differently. In the United States, it will be five day festival. International Book Day begins on the first day of spring, a federal holiday, where everyone must give a book to each other, buy a book for themselves and, of course, read it. On the second day, children may volunteer to parade all throughout the city wearing costumes of book characters, authors or poets. In addition, bookstores and libraries are given donations all day and close an hour early everyday of that week. The third day is when farmers markets throw a feast for everyone in the neighborhood to play games like cornhole and ping pong, and of course everyone leaves with a free book of their choice. On the fourth day, selected authors are interviewed famous landmarks throughout the country and or shake hands with the president. During the day people may watch the broadcasted interviews and read their new books since there is only time to celebrate books and education. On the last day of the celebration, the president will give a speech and read a broadcasted story to the country giving his or her thanks to everyone who supports or teaches learning and gives a special check to every library and bookstore in the country.
Afterall, education is the foundation of the world and books empower every person who reads one. All you have to do is turn the first page to change yourself and your perspective on life. Happy International Book Day!
RYDER FELSMAN – 6th GRADE
In my life, there have been many times when I was brave. One time that I was brave was when I was at Knott's Berry Farm.
At Knott's Berry Farm, there were many scary rides such as X-celerator, Hang-Time, and what I thought was the most terrifying ride was Silver Bullet. Silver Bullet is a ride that goes 82 mph. Also, most of the time you are upside down. The ride has multiple loops and corkscrews, and the biggest drop is 108 feet. I went on the ride despite the fact I was scared, but you can never be brave if you were never scared. After I went on the ride I was so happy that I had overcome my fear because of how fun it was.
Maybe Hang-Time or X-celerator were scarier rides. I wasn't scared after I had gone on Silver Bullet, so if I hadn't faced my fears I would have had a lot less fun.
LUCA CHRISTENSEN – 9th GRADE
Mental health is just as important as physical health because the two are closely linked; you cannot have one without the other. For example, someone with chronic depression may have very little to no motivation to do anything, eventually leading to poor physical health. Without good physical health, you miss out on critical neurotransmitters such as serotonin, a deficiency of which can cause depression. When I'm in a bad mood, my mom often urges me to go biking, skiing, or engage in whatever activity the season offers. I always end up in a better mood during the activity. This demonstrates that physical health and activity are essential for good mental health, and the reverse is also true.
