Oakland University Application Essay

            “Unless you turn the handle, the door will forever remain a wall.” ~Dovid N. Roetter       

For as long as I can recall, I have been drawn to the power of words; both the written and spoken. They can make you cry, laugh, sigh, smile, love, and hate simply based on how the writer/speaker sends it across and how the other end perceives it.

            The foundation of my love for words is due to the fact that they have the ability to create a bond between oneself and another without the necessity of physically knowing one another. Pen Pals, for example, have been creating friendships for decades with the two people never once meeting; yet, they can become the closest of friends simply through the usage of words.

            Both writing and speaking has helped me forge connections with people I would otherwise never considered conversing with. It has helped me become active within my community and my college, which in turn has made me who I am today.

            Being shy about my first semester in a college classroom back in 2013, I was hesitant to become involved with any student clubs on campus. However, I decided to reach out to the Jewish Student Organization of Oakland Community College, a branch of Hillel of Metro Detroit, and that ‘Hello’ drew me down a path that has forever changed my life.

            I found myself being reeled into Student Life on campus, and ended up becoming the new President of the club this past August. Since then, I have made connections with people that I never thought I would meet. For example, OCC had asked me to represent them in the beginning of May 2015 as their school mascot during Detroit’s College Signing Day; thus I was able to meet First Lady Michelle Obama.

            Communicating with others has helped give me the strength to arrange large events at OCC. For example, I arranged an Anti-Bullying Dance Day in November 2014 where thirty students and faculty members joined together on the dance floor to turn the beat around on bullying. I also put together a Multi-Faith Panel in February 2015 where we had representatives of six popular faiths [Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Atheism, Buddhism, and Hinduism] discussing their choice of faith and how we, as a college and a community, can help create a more loving world. Student Life has helped further a passion within myself that I have not been able to quench: a desire to be even more open and ‘people-friendly’. A desire to reach out and make my own connections.

            Speaking, I realized, has a source of magic behind it. As Professor Albus Dumbledore once said, “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it” (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). I recall back to June 2010, as I stood in front of the podium delivering my high school Valedictorian speech. I remember speaking about the many ups and downs one goes through while in their journey of education. I was able to witness people in the audiences’ eyes glaze over as my discussion brought them back in time to when they attended school. I discovered then how the energy, tone, and stressing of the right wording can twist a sentence into countless meanings.

            Writing helps me express my thoughts and share them with the world. Whether it may be a poem regarding thoughts about my first day in college, published on the OCC Spirit Blog, or sharing the moment of when I visited my brother’s grave for the first time, published in the N’shei Chabad Worldwide Newsletter. Writing is an outlet of my thoughts, emotions, and various lessons that I have learned and someone, at any time across the globe, can read it and connect with me. Chances are that I won’t even be aware of it; yet, the connection will still be established.

            Each and every person we meet or connect with in our lifetime is valuable. As The Doctor once said: “In 900 years of time and space I’ve never met someone who wasn’t important” (Doctor Who, Season Six). Every single person in this world leaves a legacy behind; however, it is their choice if it will be a legacy worthy of remembrance.

Permit me to share the following poem I had written back in January, entitled “Empty Chairs”:

Gathered together they wait patiently, not a soul lingers nearby.

They wait without moving an inch, unknowing who will be their future.

Seventeen of them are around, waiting for the room to fill up.

Slowly one by one receives a soul, it sits empty no more.

It has a gift of life, for just an hour or three.

It hears the crying and the laughter of whomever sits upon thee.

It learns a story of someone so special, it is now content.

It becomes a reflection of the person, it is their spot in the room.

Suddenly, without warning, the human rises tall and proud.

Swiftly walks away and out the door, never to be seen again.

It waits so anxiously, for another to fill the void.

Will another come, who may ever know?

We are all in this world, for but a fleeting moment.

Our stories are told loudly, and we laugh all together.

Yet a time does come when we get up, we leave the room without a warning.

Just one question does remain, that we must ask ourselves:

Will I remain an empty chair, for I am leaving a legacy?

Or will I remain an empty chair, for I am no one worth remembering?

            Why is a legacy so important? Why should we care what people think of us once we are dead? The answer is simple. It is not about what people think about what you did with your life; rather it is about what we have passed on to the next generation. As I would sometimes tell people, “You can only inspire within others what others have previously inspired within you”. Each connection that we make on this earth leaves an impact on the other person; positive or negative. Words are the numerous roads we take to the person next door. It is up to us to be careful to only write or speak positive things about our fellows as the next generation is constantly looking out to see who to copy and admire. We need to bear in mind that a single word can kill a friendship or spark true love.

            This is why I have always been engrossed with words; I, as the speaker or writer, have the power to turn some random combinations of letters into a work of beauty or destruction. I can take peoples’ emotions and reshape them to my desires; bringing them to tears or make them clutch their ribs in laughter. I can touch the essence of their very being.

            However, this can only be done once the connection has already been made. Until I utter one specific word, my magic can achieve no results. Unless I make the first move, the rest of the world will be like frozen statues to me, unable to connect and communicate with. I must reach out and create my own legacy. I must do all that I can do to use language to help the world; to bring love and harmony to those around me and across the globe. No one will make the connections for me; I must be the first one to extend my hand and say “Hello”.