The Proust Questionnaire

What is your greatest strength or virtue? Empathy
The quality you most like in a man? A sense of humor
The quality you most like in a woman? Courage
What do you most value in your friends? Honesty
What is your principle defect? A short attention span
What is your favorite thing to do? Finding new things to do
What is your dream of happiness? Finding your purpose in life and fulfilling it.
What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes? Being trapped in a career that you hate with no way of escaping.
What would you like to be? Successful
In what country would you like to live? The United States of America
What is your favorite color? Green
What is your favorite flower? Carnation
What is your favorite bird? Hummingbird
Who are your favorite writers? Ellen Hopkins, Shakespeare, J.K. Rowling. Bram Stoker
Who are your favorite actors? Whoopi Goldberg, 
Who is your favorite fictional hero? Captain Underpants
Who is your favorite heroine? Marie Curie
Who are your favorite musicians? Musicians who have some type of message to convey in their music, not those who simply want to make money.
Who are your favorite painters? Salvador Dali, Franz Marc, Frida Kahlo, Picasso
Who are your heroes in real life? Any person who sets a positive goal and then accomplishes it.
Who are your favorite heroines of history? Rachel Carson, Cleopatra
What are your favorite names? Terrence, Elise
What is it you most dislike? Premature judgement
What historical figures do you most despise? John Wilkes Booth, Christopher Columbus
What event in military history do you most admire? The colonies' victory in the American Revolutionary War.
What social reform do you most admire? Asylum Reform
What natural gift would you most like to possess? A knack for languages
How would you like to die? Content and satisfied with what I had done in this lifetime.
What is your present state of mind? In a  state of deep thought.
What is your motto? Don't stress about things you can't control.

Essay Two

During the summer of 2011 I was nominated to attend the Hugh O’ Brian leadership weekend seminar in Americus, Georgia. A handful of students were chosen from various counties across the state of Georgia, all to meet up in this one location. It is here that I met a girl by the name of Amber. Our first encounter which led to friendship began at the seminar’s brunch. We hand all randomly sat at various tables in the eating area. Amber just so happened to be sitting across from me. That particular day I had decided to partake in some hash browns. As I reached for some ketchup to put on them, Amber looked at me in stunned silence. She had never seen a person put ketchup on hash browns before, she thought it was the weirdest thing. Amber was from an extremely small town in Bacon county. She opened my eyes to the diversity of people and ways of thinking. She proved to me that even though people can come from seemingly the same area, we can always find new things to learn from one another.
During that short two days I had to spend time with Amber we both learned so much from each other. I, being from Athens the complete college town had many insights into the somewhat city life Amber had never experienced. As I listened to her stories from her hometown I began to learn what a true community was like, a place where everyone knew and cared for each other. The interactions between Amber and I led us both to understanding more about ourselves and others as well as encouraged us both to get to know new people and seek new experiences.

Essay Three

It all began on a summer day as I began my Young Dawgs internship at the University of Georgia’s college of pharmacy. It was my first day on the job and I was meeting my supervisor for the first time. As I walked into the small lab/office, I.D. in hand, I came across an older gentleman. I was uncertain if I was in the right place. Upon seeing my face, the gentleman, suddenly and abruptly left the room without speaking a word. He left me standing in the doorway, shock and confusion upon my face. I did not know what to do or say. I was even tempted to chase after him. Nervousness overcame me, so I simply stayed there, unmoving.
As if sent by the gods, a much younger woman, dressed in a seemingly slightly burned lab coat, entered the room. She greeted me not with a handshake, but with a hug. I completely became at ease. She introduced herself as my supervisor and the older gentleman as her superior. She told me that I would be making whale ointment that day. Yes, that is in no way a typing error, I would be making a series of ointments meant to be tested on a whale with skin ulcers. She handed me a lab coat and led me into the lab. The first thing she did was hand me a mortar and pestle. The first thing I did was break that particular mortar and pestle accidentley. My supervisor looked me in the eye and I expected to see the burning coals of hades simmering there, but instead I saw joy. She said to me “You are now officially a pharmacist!” and from that day on our wonderful working relationship and friendship grew.

Essay Four

To Whom it Concerns ,


See I’m trying to find my place, but it might not be here where I feel safe. We all learn to make mistakes.
--Paramore, “Misguided Ghosts”

The song from which this quote comes is an important song to me because of the intense meaning behind it. It completely captures the essence of trying to find yourself  in today’s society through making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. Often times people see themselves as one person in a sea of faces. An important goal in their lives is to separate themselves from others who walk this Earth. They want to make an impact in their lifetime no matter what the cost, however they must discover themselves first.  This song personally relates to me because currently now in my youth, I am still trying to find myself. I am still learning new things, growing as a person, changing, and slowly but surely creating my own identity.

But now I’m told that this is life and pain is just a simple compromise, so we can get what we want out of it.

As I grow, from my experiences and interactions with new people I have come to learn that with all the positivity that there is in this world there is also a great deal of negativity as well. I have come to accept this about society and I hope to one day, help to tip the scales in favor of positivity.