My Personality pH

Essay Option 4.

Were pH an expression of personality, what would be your pH and why? (Feel free to respond acidly! Do not be neutral, for that is base!)
— Inspired by Joshua Harris, Class of 2016

Were pH an expression of personality, what would be your pH and why?

        By scientific definition, acid refers to corrosive chemical molecules that act as acceptors of non-bonding electron pairs during chemical reaction. By absorbing numerous electron pairs from their environment, acids attempt to become neutral and alleviate their radical state. In everyday lives, acid melts everything that it touches and congregates a solution that possesses the characteristics of its constituents. Just like how acid absorbs its environmental factors to form and change itself, I have thoroughly adapted myself to my environment by participating in various activities. While my “acidic” personality has definitely hindered me from assimilating into most of these activities smoothly, I have appeased my acidity from pH two to pH five by participating in various and atypical sports activities.

             Since I was an infant, I enjoyed learning sports like other boys of my age. Starting with swimming when I was five, I learned to play basketball, tennis, golf, soccer, football, baseball, skating, and other universally-learned physical exercises. At the initial stage, I was intransigent and strongly preferred my own way of playing them. Simply ignoring the lessons from other players, I often failed to harmonize in team and caused conflicts with other team members. Sometimes, I was so acquisitive during the game that I ignored the signals from other players and eventually I was kicked out of the team. Nonetheless, I repeated this process by challenging to learn numerous sports activities. Although the process of acquiring knowledge of different sports subjects was confusing and exacting, I persevered until I could master the basic skills and tactics and attempted to join the team in concord. As I encountered various players and joined in many teams, my bipartisan view toward playing sports mollified. Undoubtedly, despite dispersed concentration on various subjects of sports activities and difficulties in discarding greedy and extreme views, I had apparently gained the ability to match with other players to certain extent. 

             Over the years, my attitude toward playing in the team has apparently changed from radical to harmonious. However, while my radical way of playing soothed, I was still obsessed with being somewhat different in playing sports. During my freshmen year at high school, I coveted to join “frontier” sports activities that could satisfy my desire for special experience. The cheerleading team seemed like a utopia that could perfectly fulfill such need. My friends regarded cheerleading as a girlish and unmanly sport and jeered at my decision. Even one of my best friends criticized me as an attention seeker. Nevertheless, I became a cheerleader and as cheerleading requires cohesive teamwork than any other sports, I learned to suppress acerbic expressions on other team members and strived to adhere to the team without any complains.

             Acid is frequently recognized as detrimental substance that poses serious threat to other materials. Similarly, I had been a harmful existence to other members in my community.  As reflected from my numerous experiences in sports teams, my radical attitude was a monumental hindrance to the process of embracing various subjects. Now, my accumulated experience not only helps me to bond myself to the group but also helps me become the leading and helpful member of the team. Now my pH is five.