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Zip-line: College Admission Essay Sample

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Words: 705 |

Pages: 2|

4 min read

Published: Jul 18, 2018

Words: 705|Pages: 2|4 min read

Published: Jul 18, 2018

From the age of five, I've had an irrational fear of heights. Maybe because, as a short child, everything seemed to tower over me. Or maybe because, as a Floridian, I had not known any height above sea-level until later in my life. As a boy, my fear of heights was a constant source of regret each time I found myself in a place above a young Floridian's natural elevation. That all changed, however, when I shot through Northern California's redwoods hundreds of feet in the air.

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Paying the fare. Strapping on the harness. Hiking to the top of a cliff. Crossing a makeshift bridge that connected the edge of the mountain to the nearest redwood. Supported only by a thin wire attached to the broad branches overhead, I stood on a wooden platform that was far too small, staring into a void that extended one hundred and fifty feet below. At this point, all thoughts of it being my dad's birthday abandoned me - and I was overcome with anxiety. My fear exploded when the tour guide lead me to the edge of the platform, attached my harness to the zip-line, and told me to get a running start. I swallowed and, to the coaxing of my family, reluctantly complied. Running forward, the crisp morning air whipping against my face, I leaped. That terrible feeling of dropping, of my stomach turning inside out, embraced me as I tumbled forward. The harness caught me, pulling against my chest. I refused to look down until my feet were firmly planted against the landing platform of the next tree. Lightheaded, I waited for my family to arrive behind me and was once again attached to the zip-line, told to step back, and then asked to leap.

"Go!" the guide barked. I closed my eyes and leaped off the platform two hundred feet above the forest's floor. Whipped by wind and feeling weightless, I cruised along the zip-line. My gripping fear forced me to open my eyes, to verify that I was still attached to the line and heading for the next platform. I looked up. Down. Each and every way. I closed my eyes again, this time feeling and hearing only the force of the wind and the acceleration of the zip-line as I cruised through the redwood canopy. I absorbed the beautiful surroundings I found myself in, forgetting only for that moment about my irrational fear of heights. As I neared the climax of that particular line, I began to pick up speed. A group of branches covered a sunlit opening in the canopy before me. I could not believe my eyes as I rocketed through the opening into a breathtaking clearing. I could see for miles - to a stunning collection of mountains in the foggy distance, to the apricot colored sunrise, to a brisk creek gushing below me, spraying water over lush, aquatic foliage. I was captivated by the immense artistry nature exhibited from the sky. Everything below me seemed cohesive; the canopies of different trees melted together, grass met rock met flower, deer prodded alongside an obviously beaten path. I had faced my fear of heights and was able to, for the first time in my life, simply enjoy the serene beauty of being above my natural height.

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It is in my nature to observe before I act, to analyze and inspect a situation before I enter it. Zip-lining was in direct defiance of this nature. Above the canopy in that clearing, soaring through what seemed like the clouds with my fear of heights forgotten, I had discovered my newfound ability to silence fear and hide my own bias - preferring instead to observe before emotion, such as fear, takes over. When I landed, the full sense of this accomplishment hit me like a brick. My fear was ultimately my greatest motivator - by forcing me to try to escape it, I had overcome it in the hardest way possible. That morning, I faced and conquered a life-long fear, I expanded my capacity for observation, and I gained a unique and incredible memory - that of zipping hundreds of feet in the air through the tips of California's redwoods.

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Zip-line: College Admission Essay Sample. (, ). GradesFixer. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://gradesfixer.com/free-admission-essays/zip-line-college-admission-essay-sample/
“Zip-line: College Admission Essay Sample.” GradesFixer, , gradesfixer.com/free-admission-essays/zip-line-college-admission-essay-sample/
Zip-line: College Admission Essay Sample. [online]. Available at: <https://gradesfixer.com/free-admission-essays/zip-line-college-admission-essay-sample/> [Accessed 28 Mar. 2024].
Zip-line: College Admission Essay Sample [Internet]. GradesFixer. [cited 2024 Mar 28]. Available from: https://gradesfixer.com/free-admission-essays/zip-line-college-admission-essay-sample/
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