It only takes a seed, and a drop of water.

It’s the second day of my senior year, and I’ve just gotten home. I am exhausted by the day and just want to lie down. As I step into my room, I see my new hydroponics system: fresh out of the box and assembled just the night before. Seeing it gives me a small rush of excitement and relieves my headache. I had seen it in Sci-Fi stories: a method to grow plants indoors while in space. I knew hydroponics was already a system and I wanted to try it for myself. I ordered a system two days prior, and it arrived on the first day of school. I carefully placed the seeds in the sponges and filled the tank with water. The seeds open once water is introduced, often it only takes a few drops to sprout, sometimes only one.

When I was little, my grandfather used to take me to Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY to watch planes land and take off. From military C-17 Globemasters on cargo runs between bases to Cessna civilian planes, we watched them all. We always enjoyed an ice cream afterwards too, strawberry shortcake ice cream pops… every time. Since then I wanted to be an engineer, like him.

Every day I strive to be like him, he gave me the seed, and all I’ve added is a drop of water.

My grandfather was a chemical engineer for Chromalloy, a jet engine company. He worked to simplify production systems and decrease running costs. He created specialized tools and was a leading developer in several patented techniques, though his lack of a degree meant the company didn’t want to put his name on the patents, though he still got the perks that would come with the designs.
I take every experience as a seed, no matter what the result might be. The ideas, lifestyles, and experiences that contribute to my growth are cultivated. This has led to a life scattered between interests and hobbies, from gaming to hunting game; from fishing to hydroponic farming. I’ve learned to embrace everything I find interesting and enjoyable in ways that help me grow intellectually and personally.
I’ve learned to embrace life to the fullest and take everything as an opportunity to grow and learn. However, I’ve also learned that the seeds I plant may grow bad habits, such as my obsession with perfecting my creations. I’ve introduced these problems along with my growth, problems that have become part of my character. However, these bad habits and ideas, bad seeds, have never made me falter, and as I take this next step, I see it all far different than when I was younger.

Now when I look at my life, my future, my past, I no longer see a single seed… I see a great farm. I see everything I’ve done to grow as each its own seed. From the war simulators I play, which made me obsessed with working with military arms and the cogs of war to the Sci-Fi stories and driving simulators that refined my dream to create designs that support the operations of the world: from war to humanitarian efforts, through the perfection of logistical tech. Each was a seed that has been planted in my mind, each a crop of its own, with its own dangers and benefits. Where would the water come from? It would come from my imagination… my limit without limits. Today, I see the farm as ever growing, each plant growing as fast as it’s watered and fertilized with new ideas. I see my love for roaring engines and booming cannons blooming into a career in logistics and military technology, my love of nature and agriculture germinating into a potential agricultural engineering career. All that’s left now is to keep feeding what’s planted, the seeds of my success.