This is a college essay i had to write. It was an open essay so i chose unicycling. Leave commments at will, they are appreciated. Its suppose to be about 500 words:
They were made for clowns, or tightrope walkers, or even street performers, but certainly not for me; that was until Santa left a shiny chrome unicycle underneath the Christmas tree. Looking at the ridiculous contraption, I wondered, “How am I ever going to ride this thing?” My first attempt at getting on the unicycle ended as an unconditional disaster. Undeterred, I made my way out of the house and into the garage. There I discovered that when the two cars were parked the vehicles formed a corridor that was wide enough for me to ride through, but thin enough that I could easily steady myself. Plus there was the added bonus that I was protected from the biting winter wind. After trying to steady myself between the cars for almost half an hour, I was finally able to do it, albeit with a kung-fu death grip on the car antennas. But with inexhaustible patience and much determination, I was able to make it, without leaning too much on the cars, the entire length of the garage a few hours later. Now I felt that was ready to venture out onto the open driveway. But when I first did, as my hands left the cars and I took my first unfettered pedal stroke, I fell over like a drunken football fan after the Super bowl. Soon though, I was pedaling one stroke, then two pedal strokes. Then I was able ride past the front-door sidewalk. Before long I could pedal to the basketball pole. Every landmark on the driveway became a goal for me, be it a crack, the mulch bed, or the driveway’s end. And with each goal that I made and then achieved, the more excited I became. With this self perpetuating determination and enthusiasm, I was able to ride, without falling, for as long as my legs could go in just a few days. With the challenge of simply riding a unicycle finished, and after searching the internet and discovering an entire unicycling community, I began to further hone my skills towards a more extreme form of unicycling that is done by riding up, down and over manmade obstacles. I was soon jumping on and riding across wooden bleachers, benches, jungle-gym equipment, and any other low lying apparatuses at the local elementary school. It has been three years since I first found my unicycle underneath the Christmas tree, and yet there are still obstacles to overcome and goals I want to achieve on my unicycle. But that is what I enjoy so much about unicycling; that no matter what your skill level, there is always a challenge to be met, just like the day that I got it. And from the day that I fist got a unicycle, I’ve found that hard work and persistence helps me realize my dreams.