One of my favorite holidays is Halloween and my first stanza is about Halloween. “Once I sat engaged and waiting. Halloween – my favorite holiday yet the tormentor of my dreams. I ponder what surprises await me on this night. I enjoy going to Halloween haunts in the fall. I enjoy getting scared by the monsters that run around harassing people. The fun and scary Halloween will be my favorite holiday. And I made it a tradition to go back to these haunts every year. To have fun, to get scared, I enjoy these haunts”. Another topic I want to address in my stanza is my experience in Boy Scouting (I ended up becoming an Eagle Scout). “Eagle Scout: the ultimate title for a Boy Scout to achieve in his scouting career. I imagined myself seven years ago that I would be to one to become an Eagle Scout. And so, I made the commitment to become an Eagle Scout, promising myself that I will stop at nothing to achieve Eagle Scout. I camped, I hiked, and I repeated to myself ‘Don’t give up!’ I went backpacking on a trip and I was on the verge of quitting. I have achieved so much. I wondered ‘What will I get out of this?’ After realizing it was my dedication and commitment to challenge myself to earn the Eagle rank, I finished strong on the trip. Sure enough, I continued my commitment and hard work. Several weeks after that backpacking trip, I finally did it. I earned the Eagle Scout rank. I thanked my friends and family for their support. They were all happy for me. I felt happy and proud of myself. This will be an experience that I will never forget”. Finally, the last topic that I want to address in my stanza is my post graduation trip to Seoul, South Korea. “I always dreamt of visiting Seoul, South Korea for the very first time. My family was born in Seoul and moved to the United States when they were eight or nine years old. However, my brother and I never got the chance to experience the country, until now. As a graduation gift, my parents planned a surprise trip to Seoul, South Korea. I was shocked and happy to finally get the chance to visit South Korea. I always wondered what South Korea was like. Is it similar to Los Angeles/New York, or is it similar to Hawaii? The trip was astonishing/breathtaking. From outdoor food markets to museums and historical landmarks like the infamous DMZ (Demilitarized Zone – Tense border between republic South Korea and communist North Korea), it was an immersive experience. Getting to know the culture of Korea was interesting and surprising. As the trip started to end, I started to feel sad, yet I was happy that I got to visit South Korea and learn about the country. I will soon return to South Korea for another visit”.
For the first stanza, I chose to write about the holiday Halloween because I enjoyed the holiday as it had a fun, yet scary atmosphere. Every year since my 13th birthday, My dad would take my friends and me to Knott’s Scary Farm to celebrate my birthday and after visiting the Halloween haunt back in 2013, I decided to go back every year to celebrate my birthday. I loved getting scared by the monsters that are running around the park and even though I got scared a lot at Knott’s Scary Farm, I enjoyed getting scared. It was a fun way to celebrate my birthday since it’s in the same month as Halloween. For my second stanza, I decided to write about my experience in scouting and my achievement in earning the Eagle Scout rank because I was involved in scouting for over seven years and I felt that this experience would stay with me for a very long time. Scouting has taught me the necessary skills to succeed in life and I’ve grown as a person while involved in scouting. It has shaped me into the person I am today and I will forever cherish my memories/experiences in scouting. For my last stanza, I chose to write about my summer family trip to Seoul, South Korea because visiting South Korea was a country I wanted to visit so bad I continuously asked my parents to visit South Korea in the summer after graduating high school. South Korea was the best country I’ve been to on a family trip and I will certainly return in the future. All of the stops on the trip were amazing, especially the stop I looked forward to: DMZ. I always wanted to learn and experience the DMZ because after hearing all of the stories about North Korea, I knew it would be crazy to visit the DMZ, but it will all be worth it to see the border between the two Koreas. That will certainly be a trip I never forget.