This essay, by Audrey from Rock Canyon High School, is one of the top five finalists for our scholarship. Be sure to share your thoughts in the comment section below this post!
There is a town on the outskirts of a large city. Populated by its citizens, their pets, their lives, and the occasional deer. It is a town of little perfections. The town is not too small or large; it’s part of a community, but allows for privacy and freedom. This town provides safety and security for all its people. This is a town where once you arrive, you seem to never want to leave. Endless opportunities await here, and the chance to succeed is provided to everyone. This town, Highlands Ranch, is a great place to live and is ever-growing and changing with the people that live here and the world surrounding it.
When thinking about Highlands Ranch, I am reminded of a story I heard many times growing up in my predominantly Polish family. It tells of a little girl that lived with her grandmother in a small town surrounded by meadows and gardens alike. One day, this little girl was running away from an oncoming storm, when she happened upon a garden. Stopping to admire the flowers, and pick some for her grandmother, she saw a small rose. It looked weak and sickly, and the little girl knew the rose would not survive the storm. So, gently, she dug around the roots of the rose and carried it home. Once she was home, she found a pale, dull pot, and planted the flower. She took care of the rose, making sure it got enough sunlight and water. For months, the little girl slaved away making sure the rose would be healthy enough to go back into the garden. When, one day, the little girl came down to water the plant, the plant had grown three times over night, and was the color of the deepest, most brilliant red the little girl had ever seen. Ecstatic, the little girl ran to the garden outside and planted the flower, hoping it would survive. The little girl checked on the flower everyday, and found that the flower would not stop thriving and growing. It soon made the little girl famous for finding what would be named the everlasting flower.
This story taught me that you get back what you give. The little girl gave all she had to the flower, and the flower gave back to her. I believe that Highlands Ranch is much like the flower. Only twenty or so years ago, Highlands Ranch was more of an area of land than a community. However, as more people came and provided more to Highlands Ranch, it began to flourish. Highlands Ranch has built a strong community, that portrays trust and sympathy to everyone. Highlands Ranch is a good place to live not only because of everything that it provides and the community, but also because of its history and how it is ever-growing like the rose.
This essay is beautifully written with a thoughtful metaphor of the flower to the city of Highlands Ranch. Very well done!
Great essay! Really enjoyed reading it.
What a creative, emotional, honest essay. The anecdote was not only a perfect way to describe Highlands Ranch, but also found a way to incorporate familial values that are shown to be extremely important to the applicant. Very very well done
Wonderful job Audrey! Your community is definitely what YOU make it to be! Love your message!
Great story!
“you get back what you give”– Thanks Audrey for reminding us that it takes US to be the community we want to live in!
I love this comparison!
Excellent!
🌹 Beautiful story 🌹 love the heart and soul put into this wonderful piece
Sweet story, Audrey: thanks for sharing!
Nice:)
I love this. Very endearing and beautiful.
This is great!!! I loved this. Very talented!
Beautiful description of a lovely town indeed!! I didn’t have my residence there, but enjoyed the various opportunities the other Rancher’s enjoyed! The dining, the Live Theater, churches and recreation centers! I always felt “almost home” when returning from the mountains or Denver (city, to see the interstate loop that led me to my destination. On the freeway, the schools and soccer fields beckon one to stop a while and take time to play!
Thank you Ashley! Beautifully written story bringing HOPE to a future! Best to your future!!
I love how you compared a Rose to Highlands Ranch! Great adjectives too!
Excellent essay! Beautiful story!
Very good!
You have a lovely way of talking about community and what it takes to make it thrive. Well done Audrey!
I loved this essay!!
What a beautifully written piece. I love the connection of getting back what you put in. What a wonderful lesson to learn and share with your community.
Love the story!
You do truly get back what you give. Your piece reminds me of The Little Prince–when a fox tells him that the eyes are blind and we are responsible forever for what you tame, the Little Prince go back home to meet again with his Rose to get what he gives.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is very sweet!
Interesting viewpoint…
What a beautiful analogy!
Such a great essay. Well done!
You have captured the spirit of Highlands Ranch beautifully! Good job!
Audrey is a kind ,smart and motivated young lady. We wish her the best of luck.
Well put, Audrey!
Great job, Audrey!!
Beautiful!
This is wonderful!! And so true!!
I love this story and the message! What a beautiful “ short and sweet” essay that appears to have truth-love-and trust for her community!
DELIGHTFUL AND THOUGHTFUL.
BRINGS TO MIND:
“WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH, THAT SHALL HE REAP”
I SEE A YOUNG WOMAN WHO IS HOPEFUL FOR THE FUTURE OF MANKIND!
This is such a beautiful observation how it up to us to make whats around us thrive with constant care and love.
Amazing!
This is a wonderful, inspiring & creatively written essay!
Well done!
Good job Audrey….Great essay!
Lovely essay, Audrey! It makes me want to experience your every-growing community!
Audrey,
What a fabulous essay! It is so descriptive. I feel like I am right there. It has a great moral lesson as well.
Way to go,
Fordham
What a great story!
Comparing a town to a flower is a great idea to show how to make it grow beautifully.
And I love all the descriptors, they helped paint a very colorful picture of what was happening.
Great essay, Audrey!
This is fantastic!!
Great job Audrey! Good luck!
Awesome report
What a lovely story!
Great story Audrey. Love you and your parents!
Excellent work.
Than you so much for letting me read Audrey’s beautiful essay. What an inspiration she is. Loved reading her story. I know she will go far.
Short and sweet story straight to the point! Highlands Ranch sounds lovely.
Great work Audrey!
What a nicety about a locality with generosity and hospitality.
A love letter to her hometown- a town that cares deeply about giving back to one another and making the community better. Very sweet!
Love it!
Excellent essay, Audrey! All of the attributes that you have beautifully used to describe how enriched our lives have been in our community of Highlands Ranch, also describe what you have given and will continue to give in ever endeavor of your life! Congratulations on your essay Audrey!
Audrey, the story you used in your essay is a beautiful way of expressing the importance of community service and an understanding of how a simple act of nurturing something or someone can enhance that community, It was quite inspiring.
What a great correlation.. you get back the effort of what you put into it. The same as your home and community in Highlands Ranch. Nice essay, easy to read and understand and it is meaningful.
Awesome!!
Awesome!
Great job, Audrey!
Lovely story. Giving is rewarded with joy.
Audrey, great story!!
Audrey, great short story, nicely done!
Very Thoughtful and well written
Great Essay. Wonderful writing skills.
Great essay! Had me hooked….wanted to keep reading to see what would happen to that small, sickly, rose. Good job! Love that Highlands Ranch.
What a great analogy between the old world and newer community – beautiful!
Awesome!
What a great analogy and life lesson rolled into one. Very proud of this young lady! Well written and communicated.
BRINGS A TEAR TO MY EYES. AUDREY YOU ARE SO TALENTED AND IT MAKES US SO PROUD OF YOU, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
LOVE YOU GRANDMA & GRANDPA G.
Excellent job Audrey, So proud of you!
What an insightful young woman! I am sure you will bring great things to your community as well!
Good job Audrey!!
Nice job!
Love this! So creative and well thought out!
Great essay Audrey
Very creative comparison Audrey!
Very creative comparison to your great city!
Nicely written, thoughtful and close to home.
Great job Audrey! I loved the story the connection!
What an excellent message Audrey. Community is so important, today more than ever. Great job!
LOVE IT! BEST ESSAY! I LOVE HER VOICE AND THE HEART FOR OUR COLORADO TOWN.
Well done, Audrey! I like the illustration with the story, and the way it fit with the overall message.
Beautiful story
Lovely story…all communities should be like this.
Great job, Audrey! I enjoyed your reading your essay.
Audrey, what a wonderful essay. You’re truly a talented young woman!
Audrey for mayor
Audrey, I love the feeling of nature when I walk the neighborhoods and open space in Highlands Ranch. Trees blooming, flowers and animals and people all coming together as a community. Great essay!
Lovely story written by a lovely young lady
Beautiful story written by a beautiful young lady!
Audrey,
Your story is sweet, innocent, full of goodness and hope. I love it. May you never lose these lovely heart eyes through which you see the world around you.
Audrey,
I loved your essay but also your illustration of the rose. You, your family and our Highlands Ranch community all possess these wonderful attributes!
Gary V.
Great story with a better message!