Integrity, Excellence, Service

10-Electron March 13, 2024

Gutierrez, Gabriel Eros L. 3QAA1- ColAppEssay

Prompt 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal

growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

"What is the best way to hold a pencil?” It's a random inquiry that can pop up from time to time

in my head. It is a seemingly trivial thought that many people, myself included, have been

interested in answering.

I was seven years old at the time. I had just moved from the province to the Big City -

Metro Manila. I was just starting in primary school in a new and fresh environment. I didn't

know anyone at first, but to my surprise, a classmate walked up to me. Just like any normal

preadolescent child, he boldly and assertively approached my face and said, "You're holding your

pencil wrong." As a young child myself, I quickly retorted, "No, you're wrong! I think you're the

one who's doing it wrong!" That day, we launched into a heated battle of ideologies that ended

with me receiving my first offense in my entire educational career. I went home, sulking and

crying the entire time.

When I got back home, I had a sudden change of heart. Suddenly, I overcame my feelings

of anguish with a new curiosity. I started wondering if my classmate was right and if I was at

fault. In that instant, I wanted to change my pencil grip and test my classmate's suggested

method. I tried it, and lo and behold… nothing changed. My handwriting skills did not improve
or worsen. My hand was not more or less comfortable in writing than it was when I first held it.

Maybe I was holding my pencil correctly after all!

Was it over? No, it wasn’t. My curiosity did not abate, and my inquisitive mind thirsted me

further into this wormhole. I wanted to know if there was an optimal way of holding my pencil. I

wanted to know if it even mattered at all.

I started experimenting by holding my pencil on my left or gripping it with all my fingers

on my right. I must have spent the entire night changing and fiddling with the position of a pencil

on my fingers. Despite this initial burst of effort, I was still a hyperactive, neurotic little child,

and I never got to finish this endeavor.

All this effort, all the work I had done to prove something so trivial, was probably the

first time my passion for science was exemplified. I did not know it at the time, but this

experience changed how I thought about myself and my surroundings.

In the end, it wasn't about proving who was right or wrong about holding a pencil, but

rather about the process of questioning, experimenting, and learning. From that day forward, I

embraced the idea that even the smallest details could hold significance and that every question,

no matter how trivial it may seem, has the potential to spark a greater understanding of the world

around us. So, as I continue on my academic path, I carry with me the lesson that sometimes,

even the most unexpected things, things such as pencils, can change our lives.

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