[Lauren Hafford]

Okay, so I wrote a college essay for Olin that I really liked, so here it is:

The hot tar burned my kneecaps in Orlando, Florida, as I begged and pleaded on my knees to a man dressed in a black suit riding on a two-wheeled contraption. I offered to kiss his boots; to lick them clean. Then I glanced down, just to make sure there wasn’t a large chance that I would contract West Nile virus or anything like that. They shone back up at me and I could smell the Kiwi shoe polish. I gave him my best puppy-dog pout, but he only said, “If I let you ride, everyone in Epcot will be begging for the same thing!” I looked over, simmering with envy at three of my FIRST teammates who were so lucky as to get a ride on the bi-wheeled scooter. Dejectedly and with my head hung, I stood up and said that I understood. With a slightly smug smile, he leaned forward and scooted away, half of a foot taller than the rest of us and feeling that much more powerful.
The scene faded to Denver, Colorado, five months later. I was in an anonymous metropolitan conference room. I was listening to a speech Dean Kamen was giving entitled “Innovation.” He was riding on the Segway. My eyes followed it, back and forth, back and forth. The memory of my scorched knees reminded me that there’s a fine line between persistence and annoyance, and annoyance is the one that leaves me on the ground listening to the soft hum of the Segway fade away into the distance. And this time, I was determined to get a ride.
After his speech, Dean came to our display table to charge the battery on his Segway. I bent down and quietly asked, “Can…can I have a ride on…It?” He looked up and gave me the same line as he did in Orlando. He wavered at my much-improved puppy dog pout and added, “But if you and I are the only ones in the room and there’s no one else to see us, you can have a ride on it.” It wasn’t likely, but still, I had a chance….there was hope. I kept up my inquiries, but my determination only resulted in Dean saying, “My, but aren’t you persistent!”
Several sidelong glances later, I sighed with resignation as I realized that I wouldn’t get my chance at gyro-chip bliss. But Dean Kamen is a man of his word. As I reentered the building to find the rest of my team, I looked up and saw Dean riding down the escalator on the Segway! There was a post-conference silence in the deserted hallway. Mine was the only voice in the room, and it could have been mistaken for an entire elementary school at recess. Dean dismounted the electronic steed and I mounted it with the joy that makes legs quiver and fingers tremble. It felt alive beneath me, pulsing and rocking back and forth. I felt a primordial urge to bang on my chest (or pocket protector?) and scream my success from the desktops of my geeky world. My less-than-rational side took possession of me and I turned rather too sharply, directly into the man who finally allowed me a ride on his creation. I bet he’ll remember ME at the FIRST Robotics nationals.

lauren