I was in Castle Valley, a world-class climbing area located in southern Utah, about three hours away from my home town. After an hour-long hike to the base of Castleton Tower, we threw down our packs and our gaze was drawn to the enormous rock pillar towering over our heads. Our plan was to complete a multi-pitch route called Kor/Ingalls on Castleton Tower. It’s one of those routes that is so particular that you feel as if you are on another planet. After we began climbing, Every foot we gained in vertical elevation I felt my chest swell with more and more adrenaline. We had one more pitch remaining. My climbing partner looked at me and asked if wanted I to climbing last section. I smiled and began to clip all the gear onto my harness. I was petrified.
Throughout middle school I was never really into any sports or after school activities. When I was 13 years old, I began rock climbing at a local climbing gym and joined the climbing team. I was instantly hooked. I had found my meaning in something and established a sense of direction. I spent almost everyday after school climbing at the gym. I fell in love with what climbing has to offer, the community, the outdoors, but most of all, I fell in love with how I felt like I could push myself beyond my limits physically and mentally. I began to feel like a new person.
We began to ascend upward. The first part was a scramble up giant boulders wedged between an opening in the tower. I placed a couple pieces of gear in cracks and seams, anticipating that they would catch me if I were to fall. The last 10 feet was a traverse across sharp conglomerate crystals unlike the rest of the sandstone cracks. Exposed to the 300+ foot drop, my heart was pounding out of my chest; I felt relief as I pulled myself up over the edge to the barren top of Castleton Tower. I looked straight into the sunlight, my hair was spread across my view from the violent wind, leaving just the gleam from my ruddy hair. I wore a smile bigger than life. I felt relieved, like I just did the hardest thing in the world. Looking back three years ago, I would have never had the confidence to do this. I clipped myself into the chains and belayed my partner up. In celebration we walked over to the metal box containing a couple wornout note pads and a few old pens. We scratched our names in one of the note books with all the remaining ink below the names of a team who did the climb a day before.
Climbing is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. It has changed how I think mentally. Throughout the experiences, the successes and failures, climbing has shaped who I am today. Ultimately, climbing is pointless, yet it holds more meaning and purpose than anything else in my life. Every aspect of my life has been effected by my climbing. It has made me more determined and outgoing, it has shaped me into a more confident person who takes more risks in life. Most of all, I have gained a new outlook on life I had never experienced before. I become more active towards my goals and dreams, and my main goal is to spend the rest my life as happy as I am when I climb.
My College List
University of Colorado - Boulder
Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Lewis College
Quest Univeristy - Canada
Reflection
I was able to make my paper more mature throughout rewriting and the revisions. At the end of the essay I was able to make it more descriptive and interesting to the viewer. I was able to give sentences more "punch" and make them more interesting. “I felt the hot desert air whipping my hair back and forth.” I changed this sentence to make it more descriptive and help the reader understand what I was experiencing, this is what the sentence is now "I looked straight into the sunlight, my hair was spread across my view from the violent wind, leaving just the gleam of my ruddy hair." Some of the most helpful feedback I was able to get was to explain more how climbing has effected me as a person. I was able to add this into my paper making it more clear to the reader. I feel like my essay is very strong compared to some of my earlier work I had. I wanted to reader to feel emotions when they were reading my work. "The first part was a scramble up giant boulders wedged between an opening in the tower. I placed a couple pieces of gear in cracks and seams, anticipating that they would catch me if I were to fall. " In this Quote I wanted to portray the emotion of fear and excitement. All essays require some sort of revision and editing. I believe if you do that enough you can make an essay really strong.
Throughout middle school I was never really into any sports or after school activities. When I was 13 years old, I began rock climbing at a local climbing gym and joined the climbing team. I was instantly hooked. I had found my meaning in something and established a sense of direction. I spent almost everyday after school climbing at the gym. I fell in love with what climbing has to offer, the community, the outdoors, but most of all, I fell in love with how I felt like I could push myself beyond my limits physically and mentally. I began to feel like a new person.
We began to ascend upward. The first part was a scramble up giant boulders wedged between an opening in the tower. I placed a couple pieces of gear in cracks and seams, anticipating that they would catch me if I were to fall. The last 10 feet was a traverse across sharp conglomerate crystals unlike the rest of the sandstone cracks. Exposed to the 300+ foot drop, my heart was pounding out of my chest; I felt relief as I pulled myself up over the edge to the barren top of Castleton Tower. I looked straight into the sunlight, my hair was spread across my view from the violent wind, leaving just the gleam from my ruddy hair. I wore a smile bigger than life. I felt relieved, like I just did the hardest thing in the world. Looking back three years ago, I would have never had the confidence to do this. I clipped myself into the chains and belayed my partner up. In celebration we walked over to the metal box containing a couple wornout note pads and a few old pens. We scratched our names in one of the note books with all the remaining ink below the names of a team who did the climb a day before.
Climbing is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. It has changed how I think mentally. Throughout the experiences, the successes and failures, climbing has shaped who I am today. Ultimately, climbing is pointless, yet it holds more meaning and purpose than anything else in my life. Every aspect of my life has been effected by my climbing. It has made me more determined and outgoing, it has shaped me into a more confident person who takes more risks in life. Most of all, I have gained a new outlook on life I had never experienced before. I become more active towards my goals and dreams, and my main goal is to spend the rest my life as happy as I am when I climb.
My College List
University of Colorado - Boulder
Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Lewis College
Quest Univeristy - Canada
Reflection
I was able to make my paper more mature throughout rewriting and the revisions. At the end of the essay I was able to make it more descriptive and interesting to the viewer. I was able to give sentences more "punch" and make them more interesting. “I felt the hot desert air whipping my hair back and forth.” I changed this sentence to make it more descriptive and help the reader understand what I was experiencing, this is what the sentence is now "I looked straight into the sunlight, my hair was spread across my view from the violent wind, leaving just the gleam of my ruddy hair." Some of the most helpful feedback I was able to get was to explain more how climbing has effected me as a person. I was able to add this into my paper making it more clear to the reader. I feel like my essay is very strong compared to some of my earlier work I had. I wanted to reader to feel emotions when they were reading my work. "The first part was a scramble up giant boulders wedged between an opening in the tower. I placed a couple pieces of gear in cracks and seams, anticipating that they would catch me if I were to fall. " In this Quote I wanted to portray the emotion of fear and excitement. All essays require some sort of revision and editing. I believe if you do that enough you can make an essay really strong.