Who I Am
1st place Stuckey Essay Contest Winner
Dina E. Florans
Esther Miller Bais Yaakov High School
St. Louis, MO
At some point in life, most everyone faces the question head-on. For me, it came this
year. With career choices, college decisions, and the mystery of my future staring me in the face,
life as a senior makes the inquiry unavoidable: Who am I?
So who exactly am I? The proposition is intimidating, but perhaps attackable. Join me as
my mind wanders back a decade and a half to the overwhelming rush of excitement that filled
my heart as I first set foot into University City Public Library.
The library was unlike anything I had ever dreamed. The sheer height of the bookshelves,
the rows of colorful volumes, the calm hush that seemed almost magical. And best of all was the
kids’ corner, complete with a pack of inviting colorful beanbags flanked by mini white
bookshelves containing all my favorites. Then there was the small bathtub, the centerpiece of the
corner. Bathtub? Well, it had certainly started out that way. It held all the signs of an early
twentieth century ivory tub, with little feet supporting it on all four corners and its white body
curving gracefully upward like the silhouette of a swam. The interior of this tub, however, was
padded with a thick red quilt, the myriad pills of which attested to the hundreds of kids who had
enjoyed snuggling upon it since its last visit to the drycleaner. The corner, in short, was a kid’s
paradise.
Book after book witnessed as I grew up in that corner. Novel in hand, I took shelter in the
warm interior of the beanbags, I breathed the perfumed air the corner provided me, and I
watched as slowly, slowly my legs stretched closer and closer to the edge of the bathtub. In that
library kids’ corner, I became who I am today.
So who am I? If I asked to describe myself, I would dub myself an out-of-the-box
thinker. I am well-rounded, well-informed, and I adore diversity. Many of my childhood
favorites, among them those which opened my little mind to the worlds of Sherwood Forest and
Camelot, exposed me to multiple cultures and assorted eras. I appreciate Chinese culture thanks
to Arlene Mosel’s Tikki Tikki Tembo, and I understand the African-American holiday Kwanzaa
due to Kiesha, a member of Sheri Cooper Sinykin’s Magic Attic Club. Who am I? I am someone
with a worldly background.
Who am I? I am a people person; I relate well to individuals of all backgrounds. Friends
know I can step into their shoes and overcome barriers separating us. This perhaps I owe to Ann
M. Martin’s Baby-sitters Club, in which four girls, each with drastically different lives and
viewpoints, join to form a club. Each episode is related from one character’s point of view and
therefore conveys a very singular sentiment. In my own life, I have learned to commiserate with
others, to see things from various perspectives, and to appreciate that a peer may be enduring a
challenge even when I cannot quite understand why. Who am I? I am a sympathetic, socially
perceptive individual.
Who am I? I am an eager student, a scholar with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
Joanna Cole’s The Magic School Bus series has whetted my intellectual appetite, triggering my
fascination with everything scientific and exposing me to the worlds of material waiting to be
learned. Who am I? I am one of the few teenagers who will jump to visit a museum. I value
knowledge and I crave information.
Who am I? I am a creative thinker. I brainstorm ideas, I assemble craft projects, and I
find alternative solutions. Roald Dahl’s quirky characters, like the Oompa Loompas in Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory, have been the inspiration for many of my three-dimensional
creations, for instance our school’s student council mascot, King George. As student council
president, it was my task to create the life size king that had been envisioned. Perching a Mr.
Potato Head on a beach ball I had found in my basement, I clothed the ball in a white dress shirt
with a pink tissue paper corsage stuffed into its pocket. Then I dangled stuffed red tights from its
bottom and taped a paper crown atop its head, and His Royal Majesty, a cross between an
Oompa Lumpa and Humpty Dumpty, was created. Who am I? I am someone who appreciates
the limitless realms of thinking and the breadth of creative horizons.
Who am I? I am a sensitive friend. I comprehend deep emotion, and I determine when to
speak and when to allow silence to speak for itself. I lend my heart to friends with sickness in the
family, and I help peers cope with tragedy. James Hurst’s The Scarlet Ibis, a short story
depicting a well-meaning boy who inadvertently brings about his disabled brother’s death,
epitomizes the tender emotion in me. Who am I? I am a feeling person, discerning and intuitive.
Who am I? I am an individual. Hellen Keller’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, has
inspired me to think critically. Like its author, I question, I troubleshoot, and I form my own
opinions. I reject information that I am fed without tangible proof. I raise my hand often in class
and inquire, and stand up often in a crowd and assert my beliefs.
Who am I? I am a dreamer, an idealist. I wonder why things can’t be perfect, and I
analyze the inconsistencies in the world we live in. Why can’t every problem be solved with the
wave of a wand, as in J. K. Rowling’s magical world of Harry Potter? Who am I? I’m a thinker
who stands by her convictions and scrutinizes that which many take for granted.
Who am I? I am a believer in commitment. I persevere until the job at hand is fully
accomplished. This I owe to the character building aspect of University City Public Library’s
kids’ corner. There I learned to dutifully read books from start to finish regardless of how much I
enjoyed the process. I am steadfast and thorough; an excused assignment proclamation from the
teacher him/herself would not convince me to turn in a half-baked essay. Who am I? I am a
stickler for consistency.
Who am I? I am a fan of logic. Like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective Sherlock
Holmes, I assess and deduce. I find glitches and I follow patterns. For me, my Calculus course
this semester is a thrilling experience. Through the countless detective stories I have digested, I
have developed a knack for precision and an eye for detail. Who am I? I am a logician who
follows treads of reason.
Who am I? I am a giver. Ben Mikaelsen’s Petey, a severely handicapped cerebral palsy
victim whose life is turned around due to a young visitor, has sensitized me to the needs of
others. Petey has showed me that I can make a difference in others’ lives. The elderly woman I
currently visit often casts a smile which I can tell is more than a polite greeting. The youth
groups I am involved in and the Blood drive events for which I volunteer satisfy the yen to give
that has mushroomed deep inside me. Who am I? I am a charitable soul with a profound desire to
contribute towards others’ welfare.
Who am I? I am a person of action, adventure, and discovery. I am rarely found idle; I
thrive on keeping busy and accomplishing. Vibrant characters like Carol Ryrie Brink’s Caddie
Woodlawn have inspired me to spend my summer vacations working and journeying, creating
experiences for myself all over the country, from the mountains of upstate New York to the
sunny city of Atlanta, Georgia. Who am I? I am a free spirit whom thrillers like Gail Carson
Levine’s Ella Enchanted have fed a zest for life and a penchant for action.
So, before I embrace one of the promising paths at this fork in the road of my life, I ask
myself: Truly, truly, who am I? In recalling the kids’ corner of University City Public Library
and all that has occurred there, the answer practically shouts itself out: I am a mere reflection of
the assorted books that have cast their influence upon my character. That is who I am.
1st place Stuckey Essay Contest Winner
Dina E. Florans
Esther Miller Bais Yaakov High School
St. Louis, MO
At some point in life, most everyone faces the question head-on. For me, it came this
year. With career choices, college decisions, and the mystery of my future staring me in the face,
life as a senior makes the inquiry unavoidable: Who am I?
So who exactly am I? The proposition is intimidating, but perhaps attackable. Join me as
my mind wanders back a decade and a half to the overwhelming rush of excitement that filled
my heart as I first set foot into University City Public Library.
The library was unlike anything I had ever dreamed. The sheer height of the bookshelves,
the rows of colorful volumes, the calm hush that seemed almost magical. And best of all was the
kids’ corner, complete with a pack of inviting colorful beanbags flanked by mini white
bookshelves containing all my favorites. Then there was the small bathtub, the centerpiece of the
corner. Bathtub? Well, it had certainly started out that way. It held all the signs of an early
twentieth century ivory tub, with little feet supporting it on all four corners and its white body
curving gracefully upward like the silhouette of a swam. The interior of this tub, however, was
padded with a thick red quilt, the myriad pills of which attested to the hundreds of kids who had
enjoyed snuggling upon it since its last visit to the drycleaner. The corner, in short, was a kid’s
paradise.
Book after book witnessed as I grew up in that corner. Novel in hand, I took shelter in the
warm interior of the beanbags, I breathed the perfumed air the corner provided me, and I
watched as slowly, slowly my legs stretched closer and closer to the edge of the bathtub. In that
library kids’ corner, I became who I am today.
So who am I? If I asked to describe myself, I would dub myself an out-of-the-box
thinker. I am well-rounded, well-informed, and I adore diversity. Many of my childhood
favorites, among them those which opened my little mind to the worlds of Sherwood Forest and
Camelot, exposed me to multiple cultures and assorted eras. I appreciate Chinese culture thanks
to Arlene Mosel’s Tikki Tikki Tembo, and I understand the African-American holiday Kwanzaa
due to Kiesha, a member of Sheri Cooper Sinykin’s Magic Attic Club. Who am I? I am someone
with a worldly background.
Who am I? I am a people person; I relate well to individuals of all backgrounds. Friends
know I can step into their shoes and overcome barriers separating us. This perhaps I owe to Ann
M. Martin’s Baby-sitters Club, in which four girls, each with drastically different lives and
viewpoints, join to form a club. Each episode is related from one character’s point of view and
therefore conveys a very singular sentiment. In my own life, I have learned to commiserate with
others, to see things from various perspectives, and to appreciate that a peer may be enduring a
challenge even when I cannot quite understand why. Who am I? I am a sympathetic, socially
perceptive individual.
Who am I? I am an eager student, a scholar with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
Joanna Cole’s The Magic School Bus series has whetted my intellectual appetite, triggering my
fascination with everything scientific and exposing me to the worlds of material waiting to be
learned. Who am I? I am one of the few teenagers who will jump to visit a museum. I value
knowledge and I crave information.
Who am I? I am a creative thinker. I brainstorm ideas, I assemble craft projects, and I
find alternative solutions. Roald Dahl’s quirky characters, like the Oompa Loompas in Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory, have been the inspiration for many of my three-dimensional
creations, for instance our school’s student council mascot, King George. As student council
president, it was my task to create the life size king that had been envisioned. Perching a Mr.
Potato Head on a beach ball I had found in my basement, I clothed the ball in a white dress shirt
with a pink tissue paper corsage stuffed into its pocket. Then I dangled stuffed red tights from its
bottom and taped a paper crown atop its head, and His Royal Majesty, a cross between an
Oompa Lumpa and Humpty Dumpty, was created. Who am I? I am someone who appreciates
the limitless realms of thinking and the breadth of creative horizons.
Who am I? I am a sensitive friend. I comprehend deep emotion, and I determine when to
speak and when to allow silence to speak for itself. I lend my heart to friends with sickness in the
family, and I help peers cope with tragedy. James Hurst’s The Scarlet Ibis, a short story
depicting a well-meaning boy who inadvertently brings about his disabled brother’s death,
epitomizes the tender emotion in me. Who am I? I am a feeling person, discerning and intuitive.
Who am I? I am an individual. Hellen Keller’s autobiography, The Story of My Life, has
inspired me to think critically. Like its author, I question, I troubleshoot, and I form my own
opinions. I reject information that I am fed without tangible proof. I raise my hand often in class
and inquire, and stand up often in a crowd and assert my beliefs.
Who am I? I am a dreamer, an idealist. I wonder why things can’t be perfect, and I
analyze the inconsistencies in the world we live in. Why can’t every problem be solved with the
wave of a wand, as in J. K. Rowling’s magical world of Harry Potter? Who am I? I’m a thinker
who stands by her convictions and scrutinizes that which many take for granted.
Who am I? I am a believer in commitment. I persevere until the job at hand is fully
accomplished. This I owe to the character building aspect of University City Public Library’s
kids’ corner. There I learned to dutifully read books from start to finish regardless of how much I
enjoyed the process. I am steadfast and thorough; an excused assignment proclamation from the
teacher him/herself would not convince me to turn in a half-baked essay. Who am I? I am a
stickler for consistency.
Who am I? I am a fan of logic. Like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective Sherlock
Holmes, I assess and deduce. I find glitches and I follow patterns. For me, my Calculus course
this semester is a thrilling experience. Through the countless detective stories I have digested, I
have developed a knack for precision and an eye for detail. Who am I? I am a logician who
follows treads of reason.
Who am I? I am a giver. Ben Mikaelsen’s Petey, a severely handicapped cerebral palsy
victim whose life is turned around due to a young visitor, has sensitized me to the needs of
others. Petey has showed me that I can make a difference in others’ lives. The elderly woman I
currently visit often casts a smile which I can tell is more than a polite greeting. The youth
groups I am involved in and the Blood drive events for which I volunteer satisfy the yen to give
that has mushroomed deep inside me. Who am I? I am a charitable soul with a profound desire to
contribute towards others’ welfare.
Who am I? I am a person of action, adventure, and discovery. I am rarely found idle; I
thrive on keeping busy and accomplishing. Vibrant characters like Carol Ryrie Brink’s Caddie
Woodlawn have inspired me to spend my summer vacations working and journeying, creating
experiences for myself all over the country, from the mountains of upstate New York to the
sunny city of Atlanta, Georgia. Who am I? I am a free spirit whom thrillers like Gail Carson
Levine’s Ella Enchanted have fed a zest for life and a penchant for action.
So, before I embrace one of the promising paths at this fork in the road of my life, I ask
myself: Truly, truly, who am I? In recalling the kids’ corner of University City Public Library
and all that has occurred there, the answer practically shouts itself out: I am a mere reflection of
the assorted books that have cast their influence upon my character. That is who I am.