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Epiphany at the Bookstore

On one very lazy Sunday afternoon, I went shopping at one of my favorite stores, Barnes and Noble. I could get lost and spend hours looking at random books, CDs, journals and other various accessories in this magnificent store. However, the biography section of the bookstore caught my immediate attention during this shopping trip. On each biography, I saw the pictures of Audrey Hepburn, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Mohandas Gandhi, Napoleon Bonaparte, Theodore Roosevelt and many others. After I saw these books, I asked myself what made these people so successful and intriguing to spark the interest of a historian? Did their college influence them to make a difference in the world?

I glanced at the early education chapter of each book. I found that some did attend prestigious Ivy League colleges which many prospective students yearn to enter. However, to my surprise, most grew from humble origins and did not graduate from a super-famous college. Some couldn’t even attend college. Rather, the most successful leaders carried a vision and utilized the best of what life could offer.

After I left the bookstore, I had an epiphany about college and life. It was not the college which would calculate their success or motivation. Rather, it was their ambition and intelligence which granted them success. No matter where they went, they made the best of their resources and carried out their hopes, dreams and visions in the best manner available to them. They were the ones who made their life extraordinary.; their college just provided the tools which they chose to utilize.

Some very lucky applicants will receive acceptance notifications from their first-choice college. If this has happened or will happen to you, I congratulate you and give you my best regards. On the other side of the spectrum, I am sure that others already have or will see rejection from colleges. As I look realistically at my applications, I will probably receive denial from my first-choice schools. As I feel this sting of doubt about my college applications, I begin to feel uneasy about what the future could hold for me

However, after I think of all of these amazing heroes in history, the doubt vanishes. I know that no matter where I go, I will remain true to who I am and carry out my dreams, ambitions and visions. As long as a college will provide me with an enlightening education, then I, like these heroes, will utilize my college experience to blossom into a better person.

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