2008 Writing Contest Results

Mary Rice

Thursday, September 18, 2008

What Moab Means to Me

Moab means many things to many people. Perhaps a place to live and enjoy. Perhaps to others, it means little. To others perhaps, it means a place to pursue a career. To me, Moab means opportunities. Moab means the opportunity to learn, which is of paramount importance in my life. Compared to places where I have lived before, Moab has a spectacular school system that has opened up countless opportunities for me. Moab is the opportunity to better myself, and to start over where I have made mistakes. It is the opportunity to enrich my life and propel me to the stars.

One of the things that I love the most about Moab is its school system. The faculty realizes that they are teaching the young people who will form the future of our nation, and they have risen to the task with great enthusiasm. Living here has opened my life to the countless opportunities there are for me in the world. Because of this school system, I have been able to take the SAT and ACT tests for the Rocky Mountain Talent Search. There are gifted and talented programs for me, and the opportunities for wonderful scholarships—something there wasn't at my previous school. Because of this school system, I'm actually being challenged and taught things I haven't learned before. I'm having to push myself to excel here, which is something I have longed for in all my previous schools.

Moab gives the opportunity to excel in any area that I so wish. I find that the scenery here has helped me think more deeply, moving from the shallow plane of the mind where I'm thinking about little more than sports and grades, to the deeper, untapped regions of the brain.Coming here has given me ideas for philosophical and psychological papers that I enjoy writing. For example, one of my best philosophical papers was on what I call "Living Instinct" and the idea came from something I thought of on a drive to Moab from Castle Valley. Other ideas I have had that have been sparked by the scenery are "The Physical Oxymoron" and "Human Consciousness". "Living Instinct" is how the human is still very much an animal because all our actions are in some way based on the instincts of all living things: get food, water, shelter, and mates. This paper is how while the human may be more intelligent than the common deer or mouse, we are still very similar to them in many ways. "The Physical Oxymoron" is a philosophical paper that I wrote about what has separated humans from nature, and when the incident that pushed us away might have occurred. "Human Consciousness" is a paper I wrote on what really goes on within our heads, what makes us "us", and gives us our unique personalities. Why are we different from machines with no emotion or deep thought, and how this personality is snuffed out when we pass away. All of my ideas for these papers were sparked by the fantastic scenery here in Moab, because Moab has examples of this everywhere you look, and to me, the fantastic, ethereal scenery sparks philosophical thinking.

Moab has also given me the opportunity to achieve great things because of the way it has separated me from people—a sad way to achieve great things indeed. Here, I have few close friends who I can spend very much time with. Because of this isolation, I have had a lot of time to pursue my own interests, such as music, and writing my own book. At my previous home, I had two friends who I had spent nearly my every waking hour with. Here, that has never happened, and I doubt it shall. Thus, in a sad sort of way, Moab has given me the opportunity to put myself on the map.

In another way, Moab has given me the opportunity to better myself not only mentally and academically, but also physically. There are hundreds of places here to strengthen and push myself to heighten my level of fitness. Avid hiker that I am, this is a wonderful place to live. Here, I have competition for the title of the fastest runner, or the best soccer player. Here, as I stated before, I have challenges.

To me, Moab is a place of pilgrimage. Just as many foreigners came to America for a better life, so too has my life been improved by moving to Moab. Here, there are hundreds of people who are here for much the same reason. They have come here from the four corners of the Earth to settle here, whether for religious reasons, or the hope of a better life. And here, I have found a better life too. So, to me, Moab is a place of opportunity in a hundred different places. It's an opportunity to learn, to excel, and to renew. I hope many others find it a land of opportunity as well.