Karana from Island of the Blue Dolphins by Lauri

Karana from Island of the Blue Dolphins by Lauri - April 2014 Scholarship Essay

A character that has influenced me is Karana from Island of the Blue Dolphins. She is a very strong woman. Her love for her younger brother shows how important family is to her. I have a little sister and she is very special to me. I would give my life to protect her. I have a big family but each member is very important to me. Recently I have lost several older relatives. Now, the entire generation of that part of the family is gone. Some I did not know as well as I would have liked. Each loss still hurts though. I have learned that life passes very quickly and that I need to make the most of it. I don’t know how much time I or anybody else has. I try to spend more time with the only set of grandparents I have left. They have gotten to a very elderly age and their health and minds are slowly starting to deteriorate. I go to school several hours away from where they live. I have a terrible fear that one or both of them will die while I’m away. I don’t get to go home often, but when I do, I go and see them.

Karana had to learn to survive on her own when she was stranded on the island. She had to hunt and protect herself from the dangerous animals. I went through my own troubles in high school. I was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis at the age of thirteen. When I was a sophomore in high school I was sick for most of second semester. I literally only went to two classes. I kept up with my homework as much as I could. Sometime during fourth quarter I was able to make it to school. However, I was not very mobile and I couldn’t make it up a flight of stairs. I was so behind in my work, there was no point in going to class. So in the afternoons, I would work in the office and go to study hall to attempt to catch up. Finals rolled around and I somehow managed to catch up in most my classes. I was quite amazed because half the classes I was taking were honors. I had to go back to school even after it was over to finish a few finals and one class. I made it though. After going through that, I’d say I could get through about anything. I was left with always wanting to get my work done as soon as possible. Many of my friends call me an overachiever, but there is a reason for my madness. To this day I don’t procrastinate because of this experience that I’ve had.

During this time I thought about this character. I knew this story was based on a true story and that made it all the more inspirational to me. If this woman could survive on her own for so many years then surely I could make it through the semester and be back on track by the time the beginning of the next school year came.