Yeah, I used it for a college essay

Prompt: "Although it may appear to the contrary, we do know that people have a life beyond what they do to get into college. Tell us about an experience you have had outside of your formal classroom and extracurricular activities that was just plain fun and why."

This morning my friends and I jumped in the car, filled up the gas tank, turned up the music and headed for La Jolla in search of a trail. I head about the trail eavesdropping at the taco shop; the guys said it wound from the cliffs to the beach through some amazing rock formations. As with most of my impulsive adventures, I wasn’t entirely sure of my destination and could only find directions on an old internet blog. We got close enough to ask a surfer who showed us the entrance hidden in the bushes. At the trailhead there were two trashcans covered with stickers and filled with broken surfboards and bottles. We started down the path.

Not long after we started down the trail forked in two directions. One led up the cliff and one followed a stream; we decided to climb the cliff first and come back to the lower trail. We hopped the stream and scrambled up the steep path slipping on its loose rock. The view at the top was surreal. Ocean stretched as far as I could see and the jagged cliffs tapered off in the distance, covered in ice plant. We sat on the ledge making goofy faces and strange noises, taking weird pictures, and laughing until our stomachs ached. Smiling and breathing in the crisp air, I felt alive.

After a long time we traced back down the cliff to the fork and followed the stream. We balanced across a wooden beam spanning the stream and found ourselves on top of a sandstone ledge with a narrow crevice worn into it. We lowered ourselves into the crevice and wound down the steps worn into the soft rock. At the bottom of the steps we found a shallow pool and unlaced our shoes, leaving them at the edge. Stepping into the cave’s cool water, I felt alive.

A waterfall dropped into the pool and the water streamed down a trench alongside the trail. In search of a challenge, we left the trail and descended into the trench. I scaled a boulder caught between the walls and braced my arms as I swung my legs from foothold to foothold. It started to sprinkle. Eventually the trench opened up to a second and a third waterfall, the ground grew slick with moss and mud. I felt the adrenaline pumping through my body; clinging to the muddy slope, I felt alive.

After passing the last waterfall I leapt over the stream one last time and felt the silty sand between my toes. Splashing in the waves of accomplishment and adventure, I felt alive.

We took pictures of our dirty clothes, hands, and feet, watched the surfers for a while before heading back up the trail. I passed the waterfalls and the pool, wound up the sandy stairs, and crossed back over the wooden beam. I emerged from the bushes beaten and exhausted, but I felt alive.

It’s just plain fun to feel alive.