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Revamped the Essay. Less Oprah. More me. Hoping that this works. If not, I'm going to go with the topic "Why do you want to make a difference in the world?".
If I could be anyone in history, I would be Oprah Winfrey. Normally, if I would say this to anyone else, they would give me a strange look and ask “Why Oprah?” That does seem a bit odd. Why would an ordinary white girl want to fill the shoes of a famous black woman? The answer is simple. I want to be Oprah Winfrey because Oprah makes a difference.
For my entire life, I have been brought up in an upper middle-class family. I have always had hot food, a warm, dry place to sleep, nice clothing, and all my wants and needs have been met. I have always known comfort and I am blessed to have two parents who love me, are raising me in the Christian faith, and are still married - a rarity in today’s society. Being brought up in this lifestyle, however, has given me one disadvantage - I am one of those children who take what they have been given for granted.
Having access to the news shows me just exactly what I’m missing out on. Every day, the headlines are plastered with news about impending natural disasters, murders, and child abductions to name a few topics. My heart wrenches at the thought of thousands of people wiped out by something unstoppable, such as a hurricane or an earthquake. My grief is compounded when I realize that there is no way that most of these people can afford to leave their homes to get out of nature’s path. I also don’t understand how a person can treat another’s life like a piece of trash: easily disposable and meaningless. Is life really so insignificant that we can choose to extinguish it? Are children really ‘a dime a dozen’ that abducting just one won’t rip apart the lives of many families? I have never been the victim of a natural disaster, nor have I had a loved one lose his or her life to a violent crime and for that, I consider myself very blessed.
There are times that I reflect on my privileged life and think of the people in this world who are not as well off as I am. I could be lacking dental care in the Appalachian Mountains. I could be starving in Ethiopia. I could be raped in Rwanda. I could be infected with AIDS in South Africa. I could be killed for my gender in China. I could be veiled in Saudi Arabia. I could be homeless in Pakistan. I could be homeless in Louisiana. But no. Instead, I am in Pennsylvania. I am healthy. I am warm. I have clothes on my back. I have access to a strong education.
I want to be like Oprah. I want to make a difference in the lives of people all over the world. Right now, I sponsor a child through Compassion International. I set up hurricane relief canisters at the family business. It makes me angry that I’m not old enough to donate blood. I want to donate bone marrow. I want to be an organ donor. I want to go to the hurricane disaster areas to help clean up and distribute aid. I want to go on our church mission trip to Kentucky this year. I want to be able to donate a great deal of my money to charities and to the church. I want to volunteer my time at animal shelters, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, disaster areas, and nursing homes. I especially would like to help women in need, such as abused or impoverished women who would otherwise not have a chance to reach their full potential in life. A college education will help me in my pursuit - not only providing a greater financial income, but also providing me with the education and leadership qualities that I need to make that difference.