<p>Should I edit it or start from scratch? Common app schools I am applying to are Purdue and Georgia Tech. Also, how important is the common app essay for Georgia Tech?</p>
<pre><code>The sun beats down on my skin. A gentle breeze attempts to blow away the sand clinging form my hair. I open my eyes. The ocean inhales, exhales, inhales, exhales. The family dog lay just out of arms reach, panting with the tip of her tongue dangling out the side of her mouth. My younger siblings tumble in the waves, laughing joyously. A seagull caws. This is our fourth trip to Cape San Blas, Florida, a place where I feel satisfied, although the best word to describe what I feel there may be whelmed. Contentness is derived from both the stability and strength of our relationship with others and ourselves and the lack of any type of responsibility or stress.
I would like to think I am fond of my family, but bonds can always be strengthened. A week at the beach does as much as any place can in the tightening of bonds. Whether we are traveling to Port Saint Joe to eat at a famed seafood restaurant or up to Panama City for a night at the movies after a day on the beach, the relationships are always being built. Building a sand castle, digging a hole or simply throwing wet balls of sand at one another, there are always smiles and laughs to be shared. Not only are external bonds constructed, but internal bonds as well. The peace of bathing in the sunlight or fishing in the surf allows much time to think, and thinking has never done any one any harm. Learning and accepting who you really are requires time and peace. Many times I have bonded with myself in the peaceful solitude of the beach.
Cape San Blas offers true peace and contentment. When there is no curriculars and no extracurriculars, no homework and no housework, what is there to do? Whatever one desires. There are no due dates at Cape San Blas. There is not a set schedule to oppress you. When I am there, I am free. Free from the obligations and responsibilities of my life as a high school student. This freedom is where I am most content, and this freedom is located in Cape San Blas. When I wish to walk the dog, I walk the dog. When I want to throw a ball, I throw a ball. If I want to sleep, swim in the ocean, or crawl around on all fours like an animal, I can. No one is upset because I do what I want. No one attempts to stop me.
This combination of a relationship-strengthening and stress-free environment creates the ideal area in which I feel content in. I have only found one place that meets these requirements in all my life, Cape San Blas.
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