A remembrance on one late spring afternoon: Common App Prompt

Common App Prompt: Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Another photography related essay, but about a more recent event (actually from the last weekend) in a little more story and less gloomy images.

A remembrance on one late spring afternoon

I sat on the stairs in front of the apartment waiting Jaekyeong to come out. Late afternoon sun glowed over the village. Jaekyeong came down and stood in front of me. I picked up my camera and started walking. Jaekyeong followed swiftly.

I walked quite fast so Jaekyeong had to catch up on walking with me. She grabbed my arms. “Could you PLEASE walk a little slower or something?” I shrugged, “I’m being slow, you know.” I grabbed my camera in my right hand and stroked her hair with another. She grabbed her camera, too. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity and joy mixed with a little bit of confusion. She tried adjusting her camera, clicking buttons and turning gears. Then she sighed a bit, and pushed it in front of me.

“My camera is answerless. How come it doesn’t really do anything with M mode?”

“Maybe because many people only use mirrorless cameras in automatic mode. Just use it with A Mode or T Mode.”

“I’m ALREADY doing that.”

Her lips rose with a slight arrogance, a cute smile full of pride that kids usually wear when they feel they are great. She then immersed into taking photos, clicking and adjusting her sleek white camera. Her round black eyes rolled in excitement. Her frustration seemed to work as a stimulus pushing her into the world of photography. I focused my camera to Jaekyeong: to delicate movements of her fingers, to her glowing black eyes, and to her face lightly puckered with seriousness.

We walked around the park under cherry blossom trees. Now evening was approaching and orange pink light was seeping through everywhere. People were pouring out from the zoo. We were surfing against the pink-gold waves of crowd, in search for faces and moments. The most remarkable ones came from babies and small kids. Their youthful movements and lighted faces were purely joyful. They did not show the slightest sign of fatigue or groan. No exaggerated movements or expressions that couples in twenties bore, no reluctance that older ones bore. They were just there in the park, running and laughing and playing. Nobody could intrude their immaculate delight in the moment. Orange sunbeams and baby pink flowers shone like halos behind them.

I was taking photos of these kids when I realized that Jaekyeong was not beside me. Suddenly I got very nervous, and the orange pink light lost its gorgeousness. The light was rather romantically muzzy. I crossed the road, heading to the museum hill, wondering if she would be there. I held my hand near my eyes, trying to avoid the sunlight blocking my sight. Azaleas lighted up the hill with its pinkish violet petals. There I saw Jaekyeong, and all azaleas around her blurred like magical bubbles from faraway.

Her movements were subtle in somewhat decisive and solemn way. She also emitted the youthful delight that the younger children in the park showed, and nobody could break into this immaculate pleasure she rejoiced. But Jaekyeong’s had this graveness that kids did not have. She beautifully gleamed rather than thoughtlessly sparkled, not like from the days she were few months ago. She was not “the little one” whom I did not understand and worried about. She was more than just a cute little sister who did not know much about many things. Her soft stinginess in her fingertips bore the faith and confidence she had about her own life.

I silently approached Jaekyeong, hiding myself behind the stone wall. I held my camera and focused on her hands and the flowers she were taking picture of. The sun was going down. The sun projected the last golden beam to the world, to the park, and to Jaekyeong’s eyes. I pressed the shutter, and cherry blossoms faded and mingled with shades of azaleas. (635 words)