Powerful Figures… Who Smooth The Way For Initiates

Elijah Breslauer

English 101

10/2/18

“Powerful Figures… Who Smooth The Way For Initiates”

(Brant 4)

It was a classic Sunday in rainy Seattle; cloudy, dewy with a hint of rain on the near horizon. I was feeling especially lazy. I had been procrastinating about  this paramount essay for months. It was finally time to start my college common application essay. As I hunkered down in my chair with my laptop on my lap I began furiously typing my name at the top right and a quite creative title “College Essay”. I was stuck already! Four lines in and I had no idea what to write about. With my notes by my side I spent what felt likes years trying to place the first words of my “masterpiece”. Finally I gave up and boomed throughout my house as I usually do yelling “Dad Help!”

“Elijah Shut up!” My little brother countered.

My father being in another section of the house rushed in worried something was genuinely wrong with me. “I need help with my Essay” I proclaimed. My father and I discussed various options before I decided to give up. Frustrated and overwhelmed I slammed down my computer and stormed downstairs into my room. After an hour or so the alluring aroma of pancakes rose me from my cosy comforting bed and forced me to make the arduous journey upstairs. Writing has always been a daunting task for me. I find myself thinking about the judgment of my AP LA peers when peer review day would occur. I would always wonder how  this or that person’s writing could be so good? what do they think of my writing? With this in mind I knew I needed my father’s help in order to write at the level of my peers. I swallowed my pride and apologized to my dad (after eating my fill of pancakes). We then ventured back over to the computer and continued our discussion of what to write about.

After tossing around some possibilities we hit on the idea to create a conjunction of short stories describing the establishment of my full name. At the time I was hesitant and overwhelmed at the daunting task of intertwining all my ideas together.

However it came naturally; writing about my full name Elijah Tomas Ramirez Breslauer gave me the perfect medium in order to explain every aspect of my life. I then released all of my festering ideas onto my computer constructing a long unorganized essay with many spelling and grammar mistakes. I was overwhelmed again. Frustrated with my inability to intertwine my ideas into a cohesive essay, I begged my father for help who, after some argument and after hearing his famous catch phrase “you have to learn on your own”,  agreed to help me. We edited and revised before doing the same thing four times over. It was a long and tedious journey, but with the massive help of my father I was finally able to complete my “masterpiece”. Stunning, creative, and wonderful were the reviews I received from my peers and for the first time I felt truly proud of a piece of writing I had created, all thanks to my wonderfully helpful Dad.