College Essay, wanna read?
Hey everybody! I am following The Jew's lead and posting my college essay (a still somewhat rough draft) up here on my livejournal. It would be nice if some or all of you could read it for me and let me know what you think, and if you happen to be the editing/revising type, let me know what i need to/should fix. Thanks! Enjoy.
The Mechana-programa-neer
Instead of going out and playing ball with friends, spending time with the girl I like, or sometimes, even instead of bathing, eating, or sleeping, I exercise my passion. One week I spend countless hours glued to my desk. With a pencil in hand, and some grid paper before me; designing myself the perfect house, or pouring out the ideas of future products hidden in the recesses of my mind. At other times I spend an entire day and long into the night in the garage. Under a car, beneath a dashboard, and often times sitting side-by-side with an engine under the hood, I trudge my way knee deep through pitch-black grease and grime. This is wrenching. I’m on my second rebuild, with many more to come. The next week I spend days with my eyes locked in a deathly stare at a computer monitor, its white rays illuminating my face in a ghostly fashion; programming, compiling, debugging, rebuilding. All on my sixth homebuilt computer.
In auto shop, my fellow mechanics crack jokes about my all night computer gaming parties. My computer geek friends certainly don’t comprehend dashing between two schools to attend the best Advanced AutoTech class. The guys I raced with on the go-kart circuit wonder why I waste time working to get into college. Why? Why spend my time on such brain-boggling, time consuming, headache-provoking tasks? The answer is relatively simple; IT’S FUN!
Actually, if more closely examined, as if under the precision lens of a microscope, it can be seen that an answer to the previously stated question is not so simple after all. “ITS FUN!” is more of an excuse than an answer.
Alcoholism and drug abuse surround me. My father is walking proof that zombies do exist; dead in brain, but not in body. I have to perform the tasks related to his addictions; take care of him, clean up after him, put up sheets over the windows so his hallucinations don’t haunt him, but most importantly, remember that he is my Dad, and no matter what he says to me, he really does love me. It’s hard. But life is too short to mope around in my sorrow and let it take control of me. This is where my addictions take over to compensate for my father’s. Or are they addictions?
When the going gets tough the orbital sander gets going, and I dig into work on my senior project. The task; full restoration of a ’74 VW Bug. With every ounce of weathered paint removed from that old bug, an ounce of sorrow leaves me and becomes part of my creation. With every line of code programmed into a website, a memory of a line of coke left on the beer stained coffee table is deprogrammed from my brain. With every angle penciled into a design, brings a new viewing angle of life.
Currently I am pulling together my knowledge of programming, wrenching, and design, to create plans for a new take on automotive in-dash entertainment systems. Project X, for it is yet to be named, will feature all the comforts of today’s dashboards, but also incorporate some new ideas. There will be a built in hard drive so music from CDs can be imported to the car itself, and it will come iPod ready. Project X will also rid the dash of cumbersome climate controls; instead they will be fully digital through the touch screen interface, along with engine monitoring and management, GPS navigation, and service and maintenance reminders. Last but not least, my very favorite feature. The analog instrument panel will be replaced with a LCD screen. From the Project X touch screen, (only while the car is in park for safety) the user will be able to customize the layout, colors, style, and position of their gauges and indicators. Project X is my best idea yet.
Each sour memory pushes me further and further along my own course, far from that of my fathers. My passion to fix things, bring new to the old, envision and build isn’t an addiction after all, perhaps the opposite. I’m designing a new life of happiness and success; I’m mechana-programa-neering a new road, driving right through it, and having the time of my life along the way. (Hey, I never actually said it wasn’t fun!)
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!
-Kellen
The Mechana-programa-neer
Instead of going out and playing ball with friends, spending time with the girl I like, or sometimes, even instead of bathing, eating, or sleeping, I exercise my passion. One week I spend countless hours glued to my desk. With a pencil in hand, and some grid paper before me; designing myself the perfect house, or pouring out the ideas of future products hidden in the recesses of my mind. At other times I spend an entire day and long into the night in the garage. Under a car, beneath a dashboard, and often times sitting side-by-side with an engine under the hood, I trudge my way knee deep through pitch-black grease and grime. This is wrenching. I’m on my second rebuild, with many more to come. The next week I spend days with my eyes locked in a deathly stare at a computer monitor, its white rays illuminating my face in a ghostly fashion; programming, compiling, debugging, rebuilding. All on my sixth homebuilt computer.
In auto shop, my fellow mechanics crack jokes about my all night computer gaming parties. My computer geek friends certainly don’t comprehend dashing between two schools to attend the best Advanced AutoTech class. The guys I raced with on the go-kart circuit wonder why I waste time working to get into college. Why? Why spend my time on such brain-boggling, time consuming, headache-provoking tasks? The answer is relatively simple; IT’S FUN!
Actually, if more closely examined, as if under the precision lens of a microscope, it can be seen that an answer to the previously stated question is not so simple after all. “ITS FUN!” is more of an excuse than an answer.
Alcoholism and drug abuse surround me. My father is walking proof that zombies do exist; dead in brain, but not in body. I have to perform the tasks related to his addictions; take care of him, clean up after him, put up sheets over the windows so his hallucinations don’t haunt him, but most importantly, remember that he is my Dad, and no matter what he says to me, he really does love me. It’s hard. But life is too short to mope around in my sorrow and let it take control of me. This is where my addictions take over to compensate for my father’s. Or are they addictions?
When the going gets tough the orbital sander gets going, and I dig into work on my senior project. The task; full restoration of a ’74 VW Bug. With every ounce of weathered paint removed from that old bug, an ounce of sorrow leaves me and becomes part of my creation. With every line of code programmed into a website, a memory of a line of coke left on the beer stained coffee table is deprogrammed from my brain. With every angle penciled into a design, brings a new viewing angle of life.
Currently I am pulling together my knowledge of programming, wrenching, and design, to create plans for a new take on automotive in-dash entertainment systems. Project X, for it is yet to be named, will feature all the comforts of today’s dashboards, but also incorporate some new ideas. There will be a built in hard drive so music from CDs can be imported to the car itself, and it will come iPod ready. Project X will also rid the dash of cumbersome climate controls; instead they will be fully digital through the touch screen interface, along with engine monitoring and management, GPS navigation, and service and maintenance reminders. Last but not least, my very favorite feature. The analog instrument panel will be replaced with a LCD screen. From the Project X touch screen, (only while the car is in park for safety) the user will be able to customize the layout, colors, style, and position of their gauges and indicators. Project X is my best idea yet.
Each sour memory pushes me further and further along my own course, far from that of my fathers. My passion to fix things, bring new to the old, envision and build isn’t an addiction after all, perhaps the opposite. I’m designing a new life of happiness and success; I’m mechana-programa-neering a new road, driving right through it, and having the time of my life along the way. (Hey, I never actually said it wasn’t fun!)
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think!
-Kellen