Arjun Nonfiction Writing Blog

     It was extremely tempting to take this prompt as an opportunity to rave about my dearest celebrities. I could choose to speak about my favorite musical artists, my favorite actor, or my athlete of choice. As I began to envision my blossoming friendship with Leonardo Di Caprio, I took a step back and asked myself what neighbors were really for: pretty much nothing.  A couple of considerations brought me to the conclusion that having a celebrity neighbor wouldn’t benefit my life. I thought to myself about my past experiences with my neighbors and reflected upon our interactions. I had friends who lived on the same street as me; one of my best friends who lived on my street was Aryan. Along with a group of kids from my neighborhood, we used to hang out outside all day, everyday during the summer. Shooting on basketball hoops, engaging in high-stakes football matches on his 20-yard field of patchy grass, and catching each other up on our progress in the Batman vid...

  While staring at this prompt my mind drew a blank; “What is the best thing about you?” The question was so open-ended and vague and yet I still couldn’t think of an answer. I have no defining personality traits, no innate virtue, and I’m not blessed with ultra-intelligence or superhuman abilities. I started to think more broadly about what I really was good at. Of the activities I thought of, I realized I was inherently bad at all of them. However, I was dedicated to them, and kept with that interest of mine to eventually upgrade my skills. I think one of my best qualities is my ability to pursue my passions and work hard to improve them. I always look to learn more about, and improve in the things I’m interested in. I think this quality of  delving deep into what I’m interested in has found success in many areas of my life. A particular area that I can think of is Quiz Bowl, one of my favorite activities. In it, two teams compete to answer questions from academic areas li...