The Character Who Changed My Perspective by Trinity

The Character Who Changed My Perspective by Trinity - October 2025 Scholarship Essay

My name is Trinity Bonebrake, and a fictional character that has taught me a valuable lesson is Crescent Moon Darnel. I think a very large takeaway from the book "Cress" is that you have to get out of your comfort zone or the box that you build around yourself in order to experience life. This box often makes it hard for one to experience life to the fullest. Even though Crescent is locked away in a tower and can’t just leave when she wants, when she does get out, she experiences so much that she didn’t even know was out there, and I feel like people get stuck in the same boat. Take myself for example, I stress about grades and am fixated on playing soccer at the next level, so the majority of my time is spent working on school or practicing soccer, but I’ve found that when I do get out of my comfort zone like go hangout with large groups of people or step away from soccer and school and go have fun-which is hard for me to do sometimes, I learn a lot and end up enjoying myself a lot more. For example, I’ve learned I’m a lot more social than people, myself included, think I am because I am usually quiet and reserved, but when I go out and have a good time, I talk to everyone and laugh.

Another thing that Crescent ends up realizing is that the world isn’t how her “mother” portrayed it. Sybil Mira made Crescent think that the world was an awful place when it wasn’t. I have seen similar things in my life, for example, when I was a freshman and the upperclassmen told me school events weren’t enjoyable, I didn’t listen to them, but if I had, I wouldn’t have made so many of the memories I have made. For example, I never rode the bus home from sporting events, but through my junior and senior years, I always rode the bus back, and I found that they are extremely enjoyable. This being said, you can’t live life taking everyone else's word for things; you have to experience life on your own. Crescent also lived in fear of the outside world, as I used to live in fear of failing. I run track and get extremely anxious that I won’t run as well as everyone expects. Freshman year, I made it to state but didn’t perform as good as everyone thought I would, and the whole week leading up to the race, I was so stressed, and I think if I hadn’t been afraid to fail, I would’ve done better. I feel like this comes from everyone expecting the best from me, and me holding myself to such a high standard that failing seems like not an option. Track is another great example of this: In the past three years, I have been the fastest 400-meter runner for the past 3 years and I feel like all the coaches expect me to run great times, and that definitely causes a lot of the fear I have of failing.

As I have gotten older, I have realized that everyone has to fail in order to learn and grow as a person. If a person doesn’t ever leave their comfort zone, they can’t experience life to the fullest, and there is a possibility that they’ll miss out on things in their life. Through my freshman and sophomore years, I never left my comfort zone, and I feel like I missed out on so much of high school. I should’ve gone to more events or made more friends, or even just participated in school activities. Looking back now, I regret not doing any of that stuff. This all being said, Crescent is a very good example of making sure you get out of your comfort zone and don’t isolate yourself in a box so that you can experience life and learn new things.