Waitress/Hostess
CA Robinson
- Hr/wk, 10 wk/yr, , Fiftynine50 Restaurant
- Fiftynine50 Restaurant; work 8 hours per week and plan to work during school year
- Religious 10
- Schoolhr/wk, 10 wk/yr
- Continue, Ryan CEEB: 052891 Fall 2024 7 FY RD CAID: 38303980
- Writing
- Personal essay
- Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it
- If this sounds like you, then please share your story
- Feeling helpless is one of the daunting states of mind
- I have been a backpacker for as long as I can remember, and each experience is truly a reality check
- A couple of years ago, we took a 3- day, 30+ mile hike along the Pacific Coast Trail
- The first day started with mediocre freeze-dried food and a challenging but gorgeous mountain climb
- I was accompanied by my best friend
- Sofia (aka sponge) and my mom (aka momma bear)
- Their trail names were incredibly accurate -
- Sofia was constantly drinking water and my mom was overly-protective
- The portion of that trail was particularly rocky, so we were feeling the shards of pain in our feet just an hour in, but we were warm
- Sofia was wearing the thick fuzzy beanie that I had gotten her for her birthday
- As we began washing our sweaty clothes from the day, my friend bent over to grab the soap from the other side of the stream
- Then, as if in slow motion, her hat got pulled off by a gust of wind, and in an instant, was free to nature forever
- You have to think fast in times like this because you lose heat quickly in 30 degrees
- Knowing my friend to be more sensitive to the cold temperatures, I gave her my beanie
- I knew that I would get cold, but I made the sacrifice so we could both sleep and be strong for the days ahead
- Day two started off poorly
- The breakfast we packed consisted entirely of seeds, most of which were consumed by the onlooking birds
- We packed our gear and hungrily started on the longest hike of the three days
- We had sixteen miles to reach our day’s destination on time, but before we even reached the halfway mark, we ran out of water
- There are a lot of things that aren’t necessary while backpacking in the remote wilderness, and I promise, water is not one of them
- We sat down next to a stream when we realized that our water pump had broken from overuse, and we were all showing signs of dehydration, especially Sponge
- I pulled out the backup iodine tablets and started boiling and purifying our water, aware that the more fuel we used for water purification, the colder our food would be for dinner
- We drank our portion of water, and I took some of my mom's water weight so we could continue quickly to our next camp, because it was getting colder and darker
- On the final morning, we divided the last few seeds of our cold bird food breakfast
- It was a shorter mileage day, so we hoped to be finished before noon
- With growling stomachs, we packed up and hoped for the best
- It felt like the universe was trying to tell us to stop
- I remember looking around, walking slowly next to the creek with trees towering above us
- Everything was alive and energizing
- The hardships of the previous days were melting away as the peacefulness of the trail left us in awe
- The last day of a trip is always so bittersweet
- I was happy to be going home to get hot food, a shower and a bed, but there was a little part of me that wished I could live out there forever
- Backpacking has always been an essential part of my life
- It provides perspective into the world I can’t get from any other activity I do
- The sacrifices that have to be made on the trail and challenges that are presented make the privilege I live with so clear by comparison
- Backpacking is the reason I always try to give back to the environment and to people that don’t have what I do.
