Craig Davenport English 1102 Malcolm Campbell 9 January 2014 Dear Professor Campbell, It is often difficult to sit down

and write about oneself, yet I know that everyone has so many different aspects that make each and every one of us unique. As for me, it is very easy for me to say that I am nothing special or that I am not, in reality, unique. But that would be a lie. There is only one of me in this world, and I hope youre ready to learn. I was born and raised in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio known as Twinsburg. I was raised by my mother and father and I grew up with a younger brother. I chose UNC Charlotte because of its relations with the world of NASCAR. So yes, I am a mechanical engineering major with a concentration in motorsports. I would love to be an engineer for NASCAR someday so that is why I am here: to follow my dream of having a job in NASCAR. A lot of the activities I became involved in began in the first grade. I joined Cub Scouts as well as began taking karate lessons that year. I took karate until my freshman year in high school when my schedule began to conflict. However, I did earn my black belt as well as receiving a few first and second place trophies from a competition. As for Scouting, I crossed over to Boy Scouts in the fifth grade having earned my Arrow of Light award, which is the Cub Scout equivalent of Eagle Scout. I was involved in Boy Scouts until I aged out on my 18th birthday. I earned my Eagle Scout on December 6th, 2012 after seven years of hard work. My

Eagle Scout Project was to construct a brick pathway for the Twinsburg Historical Society and to renovate the railings that led up to the pathway. Building the path took a lot of time and planning but in the end it was well worth the effort. I was finally able to become an Eagle Scout like my grandfather, who was my inspiration to reach Eagle, and now we have an even stronger bond. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle. I have always been a musical person. I have played some sort of instrument since the fourth grade when I picked up the viola in orchestra. I only played the viola for a year since I was then allowed to participate in the band program at my school where I started playing the alto saxophone. Yet, I never truly left the string instruments group since I was inspired to pick up the guitar by my fourth grade social studies and language arts teacher. I began playing the guitar when I was nine so I have been playing for nearly nine years and I love it. When I was a sophomore I picked up another instrument, the tuba. My friend Greg convinced me to join what was known as the Tuba Crew and the shenanigans began. By senior year, Craig and Greg did whatever they damn well pleased in band. I have continued my musical tendencies in college by beginning a new instrument, the ukulele. I have only played the ukulele for a few months but it is actually quite different than the guitar and presents a rather unique challenge since my hands are nearly too large to play. This of course, makes me want to conquer it even more. Among all of these instruments, I have to say my favorite instrument to play is the didgeridoo, the Australian wind instrument. I began trying to master it a few years back, but circle breathing takes a lot of concentration. Didgeridoos have a very unique sound and I find myself comparing that uniqueness to my own. A huge aspect of my life is running. Running far and running away. That was the appeal of cross country to me. You dont need to be athletic, you just need commitment and the mental

ability. I began cross country in the eighth grade, never having run more than a quarter mile in my life. Being plagued with asthma from birth my father, who also had asthma, and my mother, a pharmacist, were worried. I ran my couple two miles in about 20 minutes and 10 seconds. I was not happy. I committed myself. By the end of the eight week season I ran my PR, or personal record, in 13:54 and I was damn proud. With my improvement I committed myself to high school cross country, despite knowing I would never be fast enough to be competitive. Which remained true, I never ran a varsity race in my life, but that didnt matter to me. I was out there to compete against one person, myself. And I loved that. Every week I raced to beat myself and eventually I got my 5K time, or 3.1 mile time, down to 19:44, which beat my goal of getting a sub 20 minute time. But running comes with quite a few struggles for me. I have essentially chronic shin splints because my feet pronate in when I run and the shock is absorbed awkwardly into my ankles and therefore my shin muscles are weak, my quads have never fully developed to run properly and I have some very tight hamstrings. And since the doctors have never been able to pinpoint a reason for all of this my coach had always viewed me as a quitter and that I did not truly care about running. But I am not a quitter. Junior year was a turning point in my running life. In September 2011, there was a race in which the mud was so bad it came up to my knees at one point, but that did not deter any of the people on my team. We duct taped our shoes to our ankles and triple knotted our laces, but when the gun went off I managed to fall twice and lose both of my shoes within the first hundred meters. The logical thing to do would be to stop or even try to put them back on. No. I am a runner and I will trample the weak and hurdle the dead if need be. I picked up my shoes while getting myself off the ground and threw them to my friends dad. I ran a little over three miles without shoes over rocks and mud and sticks and grass because I will not quit. I proved my coach wrong that day. I am not a quitter. Granted my senior

season was not the most efficient as I was plagued by my injuries for the majority of the season and had to settle for a subpar final season, I made the most of it though. Running is a huge part of who I am and it always will be. It is really hard to sit down and write a letter to you about myself. Actually, it is hard to keep my thoughts straight, writing is something that I truly love and has always come easy to me and I stop thinking and just let my hands craft what my mouth cannot. Often times, my passion about topics can often take over and I may end up going on and on as I lose control of what is rational in terms of length. This letter describes three aspects of me that I find to be pinnacle to who I am. There are other things about me such as my fear of mannequins and my love for NASCAR that define who I am, but in a nutshell, this is me, Craig Davenport, and I am here, ready to learn, ready to grow. Thank You, Craig Davenport