College Admissions Essay: The Value Of Life

“Life is a song - sing it. Life is a game - play it. Life is a challenge - meet it. Life is a dream - realize it. Life is a sacrifice - offer it. Life is love - enjoy it.” These words from Sai Baba, a Hindu philosopher, speaks the importance of living life to the fullest, an opportunity that was at risk in my scary start to life.
Surprisingly, there’s no special legacy behind my name, but with that being said, my full name is Kendra Autumn Tucker. Michelle Tucker gave birth at 6:10 A.M. at Sioux Valley Hospital, which is now Sanford. My mom considered me on the chubby side, and because I was 20 inches long, weighing 8 pounds and 8 ounces. Many would consider me a bald baby, but the blonde hair I did have complemented my blue eyes.
Being the first-born for my mom and the second born for my dad, the only people I came home to included my uncle Ale, and his girlfriend at the time. Within the arrival,

they had balloons along with an “It’s A Girl” sign in the yard. My mom didn’t want to go to the hospital after her water broke, even though the hospital was waiting for her. After she finally got situated in the room, there was a tornado warning, and she had to sit in the hallway. Just because I was the first born, my maternal grandma and grandpa, came and waited till I was born. Long hours of hard labor, the epidural nicked her spine, and I got stuck. They thought about doing an emergency caesarean section, but chose to use forceps instead. My mom was in very bad shape, and in and out of consciousness. My dad held me for the two hours they worked on my mom. Twenty-four hours after I was born, I had developed pneumonia, and had to be in intensive care for two weeks. I was dismissed from the hospital on a heart monitor and had to be on it for a month. In the end, everything turned out fine for me, and my mom.
My parents did nothing too special at the time. My mom was a collector at Citi Bank, and my dad worked at Sprenger Midwest, as a forklift operator in the lumberyard. My mom only made $9.00 an hour and my dad made $8.00 an hour. As a family of three, we lived in a very small home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota next to a railroad track. My parents were ever so glad that Wednesday morning in July. Not only was I born, but many other headline, economic and scientific events shaped history.
In local news in July 1997, my hometown of Hartford, South Dakota had a population of 1,400. Hartford made the headlines of the Argus Leader in a story on my birthday. Along with the expansion of Hartford, Humboldt was doing the same. Humboldt opened a grocery store and a bank (Schmidt 1A). In another local headline that had implication for the state. Putting a price of sixty-five million dollars on the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls (Hascall 1A).
There were huge national stories in the month of July in 1997, other than just local news. One major lead line news would include, NATO is inviting the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join in 1999 (Ulbrich 8A). Other than just NATO inviting other countries, there were stories involving Medicare. Senator, Tom Daschle, of South Dakota, the Democratic leader, said that Mr. Clinton, “Would be willing to look various ways of addressing progressively in premiums,” meaning that high premium for higher-income payees (Pear). Along with Medicare comes the president dealing with many bills. Involving the new Medicare choices, the House and Senate explanations of the budget bill would increase the health insurance options that are available to elderly people throughout the country (Pear).
While the national news was very important, so was international stories.

In Belfast, Northern Ireland, neighborhoods of 3,000 plus, were forced to stay inside because of the rioting and bombs (Pogatchnik 8A). Not worried about riots and bombs, in Madrid, Spain, the United States were worried that by expanding more than three other countries would threaten the chances of getting an approval vote to accept any changes to the NATO treaty (Ulbrich 2A). In other dangerous situations, NASA is rushing to put together what-if, worst case list preparation to restore job for the two Russians (Dunn 2A).
In 1998, Men In Black, starring Will Smith won 18 awards. Men In Black won many awards outside of the United States as well as inside. The movie earned Academy Awards and Kids’ Choice Awards (“Men in Black”). The popularity of this movie led to three more Men in Black sequels, the most recent set to hit theaters soon. Another popular movie in 1997 was George of the Jungle. George of the Jungle won an ASCAP Award and was nominated for two other awards (“George of the

Jungle”).
Not only did movies, but TV shows created a thrill of excitement. NYPD Blue was a TV series played on Wednesdays, that was about NYPD detectives in Manhattan investigating many criminal cases (“NYPD Blue”). Another popular TV show was Caroline in the City. Caroline Duffy played as Caroline in Caroline in the City (“Caroline in the City”). Additionally, Mad About You, was a comedy and romance TV series. Paul and Jaime Buchman, a married couple, use daily situations to create humor (Grosvenor).
Not only were movies and TV shows popular, but also the music! The number one song was “I’ll Be Missing You,” by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans (“This Day In Music”). “I’ll Be Missing You” reached number one and topped many of the charts across the world (“90s 411”). “Wannabe” by Spice Girls won two awards; Best Dance Video and Best British Single (Wikipedia). “Honey” by Mariah Carey was the third single on the Billboard Hot 100. By the end of 1997, “Honey” finished number 32.
Along with music becoming popular, but sports were also very popular. Winnings the Super Bowl and the World Series were major news stories. The World Series ended up being, Florida Marlins vs. Cleveland. Florida Marlins ended up winning with a score of 4-3 (“Sports”). New Orleans hosted the XXXI Super Bowl on January 26, 1997. The Green Bay Packers played against the New England Patriots. The XXXI Super Bowl winner was Green Bay winning by 14 points with a final score of 35-21 (“NFL History”).
Not only were there major winners, but also many people supported them. Chicago won against Utah for the NBA Championship from 4-2 in 1997. Playing for the NCAA men’s basketball championship, Arizona played against Kentucky. Arizona won by five points with their final score being 84-79, even when playing over time (“Sports”). Even though basketball was very popular, golf was just as popular. Tiger Woods won the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Woods won $486,000 (Kelley).
About two weeks before my birth Mike Tyson decided to make a decision that changed his life. On June 28, 1997 Mike Tyson bites Evander Holyfield’s ear in the third round of their heavyweight rematch. In the first round, he hit Tyson hard with his body, ignoring his trainer had promised he would hire. In the second round, Holyfield head-butted Tyson, which placed a cut over his right eye. He spit out his mouthpiece, and bit out a chunk of Holyfield’s right ear. After they stopped for a while, and then finally resumed he bit Holyfield’s other ear (“Mike Tyson Bites Ear”). On July 9, 1997 Mike Tyson was banned from boxing (“Events in Sport”).
Not only were the sports important, but also the hairstyles. One specific hairstyle that was popular was known as “The Rachel”. Jennifer Aniston from Friends created this look. Another popular hairstyle was ‘Kristen Scott Thomas’ style. This specific style was a short haircut, since it was extremely easy to take care of, also being very fashionable. ‘George Clooney’s’ hairstyle was very popular for men. It was cut short with a bit of texture. Other than the popular hairstyles, there were popular hair colors. These rich colors were specifically designed to work with the hairstyles that were popular at the time (Shelton).
Of the many toys and game systems, there were a few top selling toys. Sesame Street Tickle Me Elmo was the third selling toy in 1997 (“Top-Selling Toys in January 1997”) . Giga pets were another popular toy, along with having the responsibility of taking care of your first pet (“Giga Pets Virtual Pets”). After the production of the Teletubbies, it wasn’t very long till they made toys. Golden Bear, the original toy license, just couldn’t make enough to meet the initial demand (Tim). Many people used to have Barbie Dolls, whether it was a collectible or not. I personally remember having many Barbie Dolls, collectors items as well as play dolls (“The Barbie Collection”).
Along with headline news came many differences between 1997 and 2014. People area always stressing about house payments, car payments, income, etc. The average annual income was $56,902 a year. Along with income, came with minimum wage. In 1997 minimum wage was $5.15 an hour, where today it’s $7.25 if you’re under the age of 18, but when your 18 and older you get paid $8.50 an hour (“Minimum Wage By State 2015”).
When my mom was in labor they had to stop for a quick stop for some gas on their way to the hospital. A gallon of gas in 1997 was $1.29. But, now today, if they would have had me, they would be paying about $3.47 for a gallon of gas. Not only did they buy gas, but they also bought a gallon of milk. A gallon of milk was about $2.67 and today it’s about $3.88. After I was born, my grandparents decided to mail out cards saying I was born and all about me. One stamp costed them $0.32, and now it’s about $0.49 for one stamp (“On This Day In History”).
In the past seventeen years, my family has changed dramatically. From being a first born to not having any grandparents. My grandpa died when I was only a year old. So I was the only grandchild, out of the four of us, to ever see him. Just a year and a half ago, my grandma was diagnosed with lung, liver, brain, and bone cancer, as well as fluid in her lung. She was fighting cancer for about six months and then passed away on September 4, which was her 70th birthday.
Technically, I have two siblings; one being my younger brother and the other being my older step-sister (Dad’s child). Tanner, my brother, is 14 years old and now a freshman at West Central High School. Amanda, my step-sister, is married with three little boys. Since I was young, we have moved a total of four times.
There are a few things that interest people now days. Hesitant to say this, I love my phone, and I can’t go anywhere without it. I honestly don’t know what I would do without it. I love to play softball, run, camp, hunt, fish, and hang with friends. I am not playing softball this year because there wasn’t enough players for a team. Yes, I could’ve gone to another team, but I liked the teammates I had last year. Sometimes I lose track of all the things I’m doing. Personally, I don’t think I’m a busy person, but my mom always tells me to slow things down, because I’m so busy. Also having two jobs is hard to manage. I work at Imagination Station in Hartford and the LaQuinta Inn & Suites in Sioux Falls. I’ve worked at Imagination Station for three years and almost a year at the LaQuinta.
Since, one of my personal goals is to be a Kindergarten teacher, I’ve done many things to prepare for this. I’m going to graduate high school at West Central and go to college. My first choice for college is the University of Sioux Falls (USF). Along with college, comes many challenging situations. During college, or even after, I want to find the man of my dreams, get married, have children, and get a house. Parts of my life have already been difficult, but in the end, I am the person I am today, because of the wonderful people that who been involved.