A Scholar of the Night by Mackenzie

A Scholar of the Night by Mackenzie - January 2019 Scholarship Essay

When most people have children, they anticipate receiving little sleep for several months to a couple of years depending on their child. My parents, however, were unaware that my night owl tendencies would extend through my adolescence into my teenage years and beyond. As a young adult, who has worked many jobs requiring early hours, I am adamant that my productivity increases as the night progresses into the early hours of the morning.
When I discuss these habits with older adults, I am told how these are habits that I will adjust once I am fully integrated into workforce. Repeatedly, I have been informed that after I graduate, as if through the power of magic, I will no longer be a night owl. However, as I sit writing this scholarship into the wee hours of the night, I can hear the occasional car whipping through the empty city streets. With music playing softly from my laptop, my neighbors above move in the middle of the night. Perhaps, they are getting a glass of water; maybe, they are preparing to leave for work. I look out my window to see all of the lights off in the building next to mine. It is in these moments that there is a peacefulness that encompasses the entire city. One by one, the majority of its members drift off to sleep. The city falls silent for a few hours, relaxes, and then begins anew.
For me, it is in these hours when the city sleeps that I am able to complete some of my best work. While I love life in the city, there is nothing quite like embracing its silence for a few short hours. In this embrace, I am able to concentrate on the calm that penetrates the city. This calm spreads over me as well. Without the worries of the day filling my thoughts and damaging my focus, when night time falls upon the city, I am able to delve into my work with enthusiasm, passion, and determination unlike any other time of the day. As a worker, I know that my best works comes when I am able to delve deeply into my work without distractions, temptations, or other ways that I can fill my time. As a night owl, I know that this time is easily found in the middle of the night, when most individuals are asleep or are attempting to sleep, before their alarms send them speeding into bustle of the city. Being a night owl may not always be conducive to the hours that the world runs on, but when I read my work the morning after a late night of effort and dedication, I cannot be happier with my final product.