Writing samples galore!

Yesterday, I had an interview at an oil and gas company. At the end of the interview, I was asked to produce a few writing samples. One question the company wanted me to answer was:

Write 500 words on something that you’re passionate about. Objective is to grab readers’ attention, as well as demonstrate your writing skills.

Wow. 500 words, 24 hours, and an infinite number of subject possibilities.

After about 12 hours of procastination, I settled on traveling as my subject. It makes sense given my upbringing, and heaven knows I have done a lot of it lately. So I'm posting what I wrote below - my brain is too shot to write about anything else (like how my PARKED CAR was hit and severely damaged. Yeah, we'll discuss that another day...)

So enjoy the little essay below! It's definitely not my finest work, but I don't think it is half bad. And if you see any mistakes, DO NOT let me know. 'Tis too late to make any changes, and ignorance is bliss for chica.

XXOO,
Me

They say people travel for a variety of reasons. Some travel to see their families. Others travel to learn new things. A few travel for the simple pleasure of taking pictures.

I travel because it is my passion. I travel because it brings me home.

I come from a military family. My parents lived in Europe when I was born, and by the time I was one, I had visited more countries than most Americans see in a lifetime. My family moved back to the states when I was two years old, and my childhood was shaped by my father’s changing assignments. Every two years, like clockwork, a moving van would appear at the house in which we lived, ready to pack up our belongings and take us somewhere new. I have called three countries, seven states, and thirteen cities home. I have visited much of the world and all but four states.

Some people might find this sort of upbringing unsettling, erratic and confusing. I loved it. I thrived on the novelty of every new location, embracing the distinctive cultures and new accents, the varying landscapes and disparate terrains. As a tow-headed child in the California desert, I climbed sand dunes and chased tumbleweeds. My pre-teen years were spent in southwest Louisiana, where I discovered gumbo and acquired a slight southern accent. In New York, I lived on the Adirondack Mountains, climbing them in the summer and skiing them in the winter. I felt like the luckiest girl alive, exploring the world and experiencing new locales, each one so different from the last, each one distinctly unique.

Eventually my father retired from the military and our constant relocations ceased. I began to appreciate the stability of living in one place, and I threw out my moving boxes once and for all. However, my thirst for traveling and exploration remained unquenchable. As a college junior studying in Paris, I re-experienced my first European travels. In between semesters at the Sorbonne, I danced flamenco in Seville, devoured Florentine gelato, and tasted Riesling in Berlin. College graduation only fueled the fire; funded by employment that paid more than $10 an hour, I hiked in Patagonia, snorkeled in Micronesia, and camped in Alaska. Every vacation day became sacred, each one providing me with another opportunity to explore and experience something new. Traveling became an integral part of who I was and what I did. Traveling became me.

If you met me today, I would tell you that my home is in Houston. It’s where I reside and work, where my friends live and where my parents come when they visit.

But traveling is my real home, the place I am most myself. Traveling has helped mold me into the woman I am today, and it will shape the woman I am to become. Traveling is who I am and what I need to be myself. It is my passion. It is my home.