Newsgroups: alt.prose
Subject: Re: <Meek wave> Hi!
From: rmwbb@wittenberg.edu
Date: 12 Oct 92 22:14:23 -0400
Organization: Wittenberg University

In article <BvvtLH.Hq0@eis.calstate.edu>, sralsto@eis.calstate.edu (Scott) writes:
> I'm a highschool senior--and here lies my college application essay.  I
> tried my utmost to break the typical "This is what I learned from being
> class president/janitor/honorary underwater basket weaving coach."  I'd
> really appreciate some criticism.
> 
> -=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-
> 
>      An ominous computer console sits before you.  The first
> thing you notice about it is the outline of a hand etched on a
> counter with five needles protruding from the palm.  Various
> lights flash while turbines whir.  Something inside tells you to
> place your hand upon the needles.  You look at them apprehen-
> sively--it looks painful.  Flexing your hand anxiously, you
> cringe as you lower your hand upon the needles and apply steady
> pressure.
> 
>      Immense pain floods your nerves.  But this pain soon mutates
> into extreme euphoria.  Suddenly you feel light-headed, and your body
> droops.  But you don't feel yourself hit the floor.  Your mind is
> elsewhere. Various bursts of prismatic light and then inky
> blackness, as you find yourself standing on a pristine white tile
> floor floating in a void.  Standing before you is a sign: 
> "Welcome to Scott Ralston's mind!  I sincerely hope you enjoy
> your stay here.  Please keep litter in its place and do your best
> not to disturb the inner workings of this human being."  The path
> continues to the north.  Instinctively you follow it.
> 
>      At the end of the path is a huge oak door with a single
> brass hinge in the center.  A placard on the door proclaims
> "Beyond this door lie my hopes, dreams, ambitions and nightmares.
> Proceed with caution."  The door opens easily, and you make your
> way inside.
> 
>      A bright nebula of rampant energy. Colors pulse and swirl
>  like fireworks.  Amidst the lightning float many objects. 
> A skateboard floats by, a bodyboard, a black compendium of
> Scott's written word, a computer.  "These are Scott's favorite
> possessions" you read through your mind's eye.  Your eyes focus
> on the book.  Many feelings radiate from it, some conflicting. 
> Loneliness, anxiety, happiness, joy, love, chaos.  Molten
> creativity literally drips from the book, flowing like a stream
> of magma.  The bodyboard brings forth a feeling of being in
> nature's womb, inside the body of a perfect cylindrical wave and
> marvelling at its beauty.  The skateboard makes you feel free and
> alive, gliding through the pit of man's creation and dodging
> incumbent barriers.  The computer opens new worlds.  It allows
> digital communication, a good place to write, a friend that
> always understands and never asks questions.  When everything
> else is foreign, one's computer remains the same, an old friend
> willing to teleport you from this world of despair into a perfect
> alter-reality.
> 
>      And then you are presented with Scott's sensitivity. 
> Various thoughtful perceptions and wonders brush your
> consciousness.  A warm feeling radiates from the area as you are
> exposed to his friendliness and usually jovial personality.  Many
> quotes and images from various sources float by on a brilliant
> tapestry, and you understand his will to learn and expand his
> mind.  A cold numb creeps through your body as you share his
> fears of failure and daily anxieties.  Then benevolence and
> intelligence shine through your soul like a burst of sun through
> the clouds.  You are aware that he values his friends and family
> as dearly as life itself.  And finally, you stand in awe as you
> witness the blue magma waterfall of his creativity, beautiful and
> ever-changing, rotating shapes like a kaleidoscope.
> 
>      And as if this sight was too much, you feel your presence
> begin to falter.  You look down at your hand and see it fade, and
> finally disappear.  You look around alarmed as the terrain of
> Scott's mind fades from view and you begin to return to reality. 
> You start to life like being startled from a deep sleep, and find
> yourself standing before a computer console, nursing your hand. 
> You look on with awe as the holes on your hand close shut and
> heal like time-lapse photography.  You remain startled and
> touched, presented before the essence of Scott's mind and with a
> newly acquired understanding of what this human being is all
> about.
> 
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
> I want to major in Creative writing and/or Computer Science.
> Thanks for reading this :)      
Well Scott this is quiter impressve.  I can say that I did not write as
articulate an article as you have written here.  I think you better look at
exploring both possibilities, compsci and creativw\e writing. Actually, don't
listen to what anyone says you should do.  Do what you want.  If you love
creative writing, you certainly have a knack for it, go for it.  Remeber it is
possible to do both.  I know many people, read parents, wanted me to engage in
a professional field, doctor, etc., but I have yet to decide what I want.  So,
I am going to Wittenberg University (advertisement: great school.  I love it. 
Go to Wittenberg) to find what I want to do.  I'm thinking of polisci,
eventhough everyone says there is no future in it, I just love government.  If
I can give you any advice it would be don't listen to any advice: be yourself!  
	I hope I'm not boring you.  I really think that you have an excellent
piece of writing here.  I hope you will continue to write on the new net so I
can enjoy more of your writings.  By the way, great imergery.
PLEASE EXCUSE THE TYPOS AND GRAMMAR!
                                                      Scott
end


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