I am most like recycled paper

"What item symbolizes me most" was the prompt for my 7th grade daughter's Language Arts class. I am so proud of her essay. I think it is cute and funny and I wanted to share. Sometimes I wonder where she comes up with this stuff. And sometimes I wonder how she totally memorized my coffee order!

"What item Symbolizes Me Most" By Audrey

“Woo hoo!” I shouted gaily as my face lit up like an invention by Mr. Edison. From the expression on my face many would have thought that I had just brought home Olympic gold. I was, instead, headed to the office supply store. The thought of going and finding colored staples, sticky notes, cash registers and an array of sharpies in the colors of the rainbow warmed my heart. As we filed into the car and headed to the Office Supply Wonderland, I was filled with eagerness and excitement. When we got there I grabbed a short yellow cart and raced my mom and my sister to the back wall. There I found colored, parchment, construction and lined papers filled in boxes and packages made of the same material all on the back wall. I thought to myself, “Wow, I am a lot like paper”. The thing that symbolizes me most is a piece of recycled paper, because I feel that I am simple and eco-friendly.

To begin with, I like to think that I am most like a piece of recycled paper because I am plain and simple. One day I was at the swankiest coffee house in town. It was filled with velveteen walls and paisley booths and had some soft jazz playing in the background. My mom and I were there for her usual morning roast. We hopped in line behind a grandpa, three business women, a soccer mom and a couple of construction workers. To top it off the waitress behind the cash register thought that the elderly bald guy who was giving his order was a nuisance for changing his order four times. I hopped out of line and went to the oasis on the other side of the café where a lit cooler was standing with my favorite bottled tea. I pulled out a Ginger Peach Tea and swiftly jumped back in line with my mom. When it was our turn I gave the barista the tea to ring up and my mom stated her lengthy, but simple if you were listening, order. “I’ll take a Venti Half Caff, Non-Fat, Iced Mocha, One pump of Hazelnut and No whip, Please”. The cashier gave my mother a blank stare followed by a dumbfounded look and simply inquired “What?” with a half sarcastic and half annoyed facial expression. I also stood there to the side and saw the barista say to my mother “That order was far more complicated than that of your daughter’s,”. Later, I heard about that one. Obviously, I am most like paper because I am plain and simple.

In addition, I am most like a piece of recycled paper because I am environmentally conscious. For instance, I was at summer camp at Lake Woebogon. It was basically all of these cabins out in the middle of the woods centered around this mighty oak tree. None of my activities involve the coniferous beast Then, I had heard the news from the bottom bunk of our cabin that they were chopping down Mertle. “Who is Mertle,” the top left bunk questioned. “Mertle is the oak,” I thought, at first that I would give my best effort to stick up for that tree, but then I found out that it had a name and it was a done deal right there. So I did a little research on my old, wheezing, monstrosity of a laptop computer and I found out that “Mertle” was where Andrew Jackson had his first home stead. Therefore, I took it upon myself to send a letter to Woebogon city hall with the customized stationary my mom gave me before I left home. The day the builders were supposed to come, instead, the head of the zoning department came and cemented a plaque in front of Mertle that stated that she was an official landmark. Obviously, recycled paper is just like me because we are both environmentally friendly and we like saving trees.

In conclusion, the thing that symbolizes myself the most is a piece of recycled paper because it is simple and it is environmentally friendly. As I picked up a box of 100% recycled paper, my mom rushed after me and stated out of breath “You, my dear, have got some wheels,” I looked down at the paper and I said “Maybe I am a lot like paper, maybe, if only because paper wins 33.333% of the time, in that famous game, too.