Left and Right Don't Exist
（by Stella）
The first lesson I learned as a student pilot is that left and right don’t exist. Maybe driving on a highway or in a parking lot, left and right is precise enough to describe the location and movements of slow-moving bikers, pedestrians, and cars. But at 36,000 feet in the air in a steel tube hurdling almost 200 miles an hour? Left and right just don’t cut it.
During one of my first flights in a small Cessna-182, my flight instructor ordered me to scan the horizon for approaching aircrafts. To my right, I caught a glimpse of one: another Cessna with maroon stripes, the sun’s reflection glinting off its windows. Gesturing vaguely to my two o’clock, I informed my flying instructor, “There’s a plane to the right.”
“No, to your right. From his position, what direction does he see you?” From his angle, I was to his left. In that moment, I realized that perspective and precision of language is everything. The radio chirped: “Cessna One-Eight-Two Sandra, heading north to John Wayne Airport. Over.”
I navigate using my compass’s north, east, south, and west directions because every pilot’s vantage point differs from each other both vertically and horizontally, creating opposite perspectives. My right was that pilot’s left.
Through flying, I began to consider all points of view, regardless of my personal perspective.
Perhaps it was my ability to scan the horizon to communicate a single story, uniting contrasting outlooks, that drew me to my love for journalism and the diverse melting pot that was my community.
To me, journalism modernizes the ancient power of storytelling, filled with imperfect characters and intricate conflicts to which I am the narrator. As editor-in-chief for my school newspaper, The Wildcat’s Tale, I aim to share the uncensored perspective of all students and encourage my editorial groups to talk — and listen — to those with whom they disagree. Starting each newspaper edition with a socratic, round-table discussion, I ask the other journalists to pursue stories that answer the questions: why did this happen and where will it lead?
Expanding beyond the perspectives of my classmates, I began writing articles for the Korea Daily, and later, the Los Angeles Times High School Insider. I schedule interviews with city council candidates, young and old voters, and mayors of my town, obtaining quotes and anecdotes to weave into my writing. My interviews with both Democratic and Republican voters have taught me to thoroughly report polarizing-opposite opinions through an unbiased lens. As a journalist, I realized I cannot presume the opinions of the reader, but instead simply provide them with the tools necessary to formulate their own conclusions.
However, differences in perspective in my articles are not solely limited to politics. I found that in my suburban community, people love to read about the small-town hospitality of their own friends and neighbors. Quirky traditions, like our Fourth of July carnival clown and local elementary school’s Thanksgiving talent show, are equally as important to me as national headlines are. My favorite stories to publish are the ones taped onto fridges, proudly framed on the mom-and-pop downtown diner, or pinned into the corkboard in my teacher’s classroom. I discovered the size of my story does not matter, but the impact I leave on the reader does.
In my time as both a student pilot and journalist, I grew to love these stories, the ones that showed me that living life with blinders, can not only be boring, but dangerous. Whether I was 36,000 feet in the air or on ground level, by flying and writing, I realized that the most interesting stories of life come straight from the people most different from me.
招生官点评：Stella在这篇文章的开头讨论了她学习飞行的经验。然而，这则轶事并不是关于行为本身的，因为这是她从经验中学到的视角和观点。然后，她能够将这些收获与她生活的另一个方面联系起来——她对新闻的热爱。随着她与新闻界分享更多关于她的方法和影响的信息，她明确表示，飞行的经验教训永远存在于她的工作中。从在报纸编辑室听取他人的想法和观点，到从平衡和深思熟虑的角度看故事，我们能够了解到她如何处理自己的激情，以及她的社区。这篇文章能够通过与我们分享一些新的激情和扩大她的一些影响来提升整个申请，但其主要重点是她如何能够将一次经验教训应用到生活的其他方面。当我们思考Stella将成为我们社区的什么样的成员时，这篇文章帮助我们理解她将是一个愿意倾听、学习、应用这些知识并产生影响的人。
Stella（洛杉矶）自述：我选择写我最喜欢的两个爱好，飞行和写作，因为我知道我可以最诚实地写我喜欢做的事情。这篇文章记录了我对看似日常任务和情况的思考过程和创造性方法，这是简历中无法列出的。我没有写我认为霍普金斯大学的招生团队会留下深刻印象的东西，而是学会了专注于写一篇能抓住我个性的文章。在保持专业的同时用我自然的对话声音写作是一项挑战，但也是有益的。
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