by Samuel Post
(Canandaigua, New York)
Sample Scholarship Essay
College Essay - His name is Leo and he is my hero. When I was three years old, I realized I had a special needs brother. I always knew there was something different about my family than others, but could never quite figure it out. Other friends had older brothers who could walk, talk and play, but my brother could not. My brother couldn’t talk, or walk and he had a machine that helped him breath. I knew he was an angel sent from heaven.
My parents gave me the best childhood they could offer while caring for a terminally ill son. I played soccer and volleyball while attending dance, violin, and singing lessons. In between all this, my parents worked and spent time with Leo. As I got older I understood the disease Leo had was a genetic disorder that either of my parent’s children could be born with. When I understood this, I realized how lucky I was to be a normal healthy child. I was in fact, a miracle baby.
Leo was not supposed to survive infancy, but because of all the love and precious care we gave him, he preceded all life expectancies the doctors predicted for him. He loved life, loved his family, and we loved him back. He had a will to survive and he fooled all the doctors that kept saying he would die as a baby. He survived numerous pneumonia illnesses and beat several code blue scares. Leo also had a sense of humor; he knew how to make his breathing erratic and set off his alarms. When the nurses or my parents would go check on him, he would be smiling and giggling. I loved when he did that.
On February 28, 2004, I was nine years of age. I came home from school to see my mom crying in the living room. All she had to do was look at me and knew my 12 year old angel had returned to the heavens. My hero was gone. At that moment, I realized how precious life is and how much I was going to miss him; how much he meant to me, and how much I looked up to him. I saw his love for life, his desire to overcome, and his will to fight and win. I wanted to be just like him. Anytime I was on that soccer field aiming for that goal, I said “This one’s for you Leo”. When I stepped on the stage to play my violin with my high school orchestra, I said “This is for you Leo”. As I walk across the stage and receive my high school diploma in June, I will say “This is for you Leo – we did it”. And as I walk into my college dorm room for the first time, I will say “We will do this together Leo” because I know he is forever with me.
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