Martin and the incredible inspiration of joy and laughter by Martin

Martin and the incredible inspiration of joy and laughter by Martin - October 2025 Scholarship Essay

I've loved reading ever since I was a toddler. My very first memory ever was reading a small Little Einstein book at 3 years old. Books have helped me through the many tough times in my life, from my struggle with depression and anxiety to my self deprecating view of my works, one thing I've always been able to fall back on was story telling. It didn't matter whether it was from a long story based video game with complex characters and interactions or a short novel about animals over throwing a farm and turning it into a commentary on the Soviet Union I have always loved reading. Though as I have aged I have grown more fond of story based Role Playing Games (RPGs) like Undertale and Final Fantasy, my love of books has never left me. One of my main reasons for this was my inability to truly care for characters in a book as more than just plot devices. Stories from writers like George Orwell had always captivated me, but their characters seemed like nothing more than set pieces to a non-existent play. To this day I struggle to care about characters in books, but ever since I was a little kid there was one book that inspired me to be kind to myself and pursue my goals no matter how improbable and ambitious they were. George Beard is a 4th grader at Jerome Horwitz Elementary who likes to write comic books and pull pranks on his friends and teachers, and throughout his entire life he was bullied by his teachers in an attempt to standardize him into a boring office job work ethic rather than his dream of being a professional comic book writer. His character was like nothing younger me had ever seen, someone who had an unfailing optimism even when the whole world was trying to stop him. His aspirations for writing made me feel seen as someone who loves to write and create, but unlike George I had always struggled with showing my creations to others out of fear of scrutiny and shame. An important part of George's character is that even though he loves to write and create comic books, he struggled heavily with drawing. His best friend Harold however, loved to draw but wasn't a very good writer. They were two halves of the same coin and filled in each other's weaknesses expertly. This inspired me to reach out and ask those around me for help, something that I used to view as shameful both because of my insecurities with my work, but also as a way to cope with my excessive pride in being the titular "smart kid" archetype as a child. George inspired me to be prideful not in my solitude, but in my effort to create. I no longer viewed my colorful imagination as a curse, but as a blessing. I no longer viewed myself as a perfect robot with a concrete purpose and stilted emotions, but as a human with thoughts, needs, and aspirations for creation. George Beard taught me to love myself and for as silly as it sounds, changed my life.