College Entrance Essay

Dusk, but the stars and an orange glow to the west show me the way. The snow has finally stopped falling. While walking through the winter’s accumulation—that nearly reaches my knees—the chill air refreshes my lungs and my spirit. Breathing deeply requires me to close my eyes, for that is the only way to truly appreciate the rapture it brings. In the distance, spruce branches bow low with their heavy loads of white. Ahead stands the realm of the deciduous. The snow summons silence of the living. Only I, with crunching boots, and the humming wind dare to challenge it. When I hold my head at an angle, so as to see tracks in the snow, my breath fogs my glasses.
The glow in the west has now completely faded. The stars burn on, everlasting beacons that they are, and the snow lends its own white brilliancy. My body has been shivering for a while now, but I continue with the journey. The entrance to the woods, an old deer path on a steep slope, is just before me. With nimble fingers, I move blackberry thorns aside, and make my way down. The trees surround me now. There are birch, ash, maple and oak, varying in age from barely capping the snow, to half eaten logs I could tear apart with my hands. The wind picks up and shakes the bare, frozen branches. Old wood cracks and some branches fall with their pale burden. My curls lift and dance.
A creek wanders through the woods and ice lays on the edges. The air smells of the very cold and carries the scent of pine. I stand on a finger of land cut by spring floods and watch the night.
This place is real and I have ventured there many times. It is literally my backyard. It is also a place I hold in my mind, an engraving on my soul. These walks allow my mind to wander. I revisit events of the past and the present. I wonder about my future and where I will walk to next. I look for hidden meanings, secrets of the world and those that I find I keep at my side. Sometimes I cry, for reasons known and unknown. Mostly though, I go to see the stars. Looking upon them, problems do not weigh as heavily, issues of the day are not as important, and I cannot help but to smile. I don’t understand why, but I am glad that it does.