My lifelong dream is to perform. I’ve been playing the flute since I was a little girl in elementary school, and have grown a passion for the art as well as a love for music over the years. To put a smile on people’s faces while doing what I love sounds like the absolute best of both worlds, and I work hard everyday to be that source of happiness for myself and others through performing.

This is a haiku I’ve worked extremely hard on. A haiku I poured my heart and soul into. A haiku that even made it into my high school’s newsletter under the “poem page”. And it goes a little something like this: Cheesy cheese doodles Crispy cheesy cheese doodles Orange cheese doodles I hope you enjoyed my haiku as much as I did. Fun fact, I’m not a fan of cheese doodles. My best friend, however, would marry a cheese doodle if she could. Pretty cheesy of her if I do say so myself. Now did you really think I was going to submit this scholarship essay about cheese doodles and not take it seriously? Well you’d almost be correct. Despite what you may assume, I am taking this essay very seriously, but with a different approach. Cheese doodles brought my best friend and I together- crazy statement, I know. The close relationship between my best friend and I started off in debate class. The topic of the day: Should Cheese Doodles Be Sold In Party Boxes Of Chips? I took the negated side, and she took the affirmative. Our teacher set the timer- three, two, one…GO! We each had two minutes to develop and prepare an argument explaining why we believed our sides were the strongest. After the two minutes were up, it was time to debate. The affirmative side went first. My now best friend argued that cheese doodles should be sold in party boxes of chips because of their popularity and the importance to diversify the boxes of chips. I gave my speech directly after her’s, arguing the opposite because of the idea that cheese doodles are not defined as chips. When my time was up, we both engaged in a round of cross examination, where we asked questions trying to poke holes in each other’s arguments. I took notice of how respectful she was being by not cutting me off and allowing me to fully ask my questions. Our teacher, after careful consideration and weighing our arguments, declared my best friend as the winner. Despite how simplistic the topic was, I admired her for her ability to be respectful and fight for what she believed in. That very trait is something I’ve failed to see in several debaters I’ve debated against. When the debate was over, I went up to her and congratulated her on winning the debate. After an exchange of phone numbers, she asked if I wanted to hang out with her after school. Of course I had to say yes! We had a blast shopping at the mall and hanging out at the local park. Little did we know, that very day was the start of our lifelong friendship. One could argue that cheese doodles are a pointless topic to write about for a poem. I, too, understand that the quality of my haiku seems to be a little odd at first. However, the significance that my best friend has had on my life is highly unmatched. The words “cheese doodles” will forever be our little inside joke and remind us how important our friendship is to each other. Each time someone ironically brings up cheese doodles and we are together, we turn our heads to each other faster than buzz lightyear on a good day, and burst into laughter. The best part of it all is the absolute confusion on everyone’s faces around us. Now this begs the question: Do you believe cheese doodles should be sold in party boxes of chips?