Growing Up, Staying YoungI had trouble sleeping that night. My younger sister's peaceful, rhythmic breathing across the room could not calm me as I lay under the covers in the dark, listening to the heavy footsteps of an elderly man sneaking downstairs from my house. With one hand firmly choking Red Blankie, I reached out with the other to turn the alarm clock on my bedpost towards me. The fluorescent red numbers whispered 12:03 into the still, dark room. Maybe he will come soon. Delicate tingles danced through my arms, as I froze like a nervous cat, ears perked up, ready and alert. I rehearsed the carefully planned sequence of events in my head. A suspicious, unfamiliar noise coming from the living room would be my signal: a boot of wet snow hitting the carpet, a clumsy hand inadvertently knocking over a dish on the mantelpiece, or a rustling of papers. Carefully, I slipped out of my flower bed without waking my sleeping sister, gently tiptoed across the bedroom floor to the cold hallway and down the first five stairs, avoiding the creaky spots in the floor in progress. of road. There, looking through the corner of the wall that ended with the fifth step, I finally saw the mysterious man that no one in my family - neither mom, nor dad, and of course not little Ming - had ever seen . The bearded man is said to be dressed in a red suit with white trim. His name was Santa Claus. Mom and Dad had told me that Santa and his nine reindeer would only come and leave presents under the Christmas tree after I went to sleep, but of course they didn't know about my brilliant plan for catch the old man in the tree. Squinting under the thin moonlight peering through my bedroom window, I forced my...... middle of paper...... power to believe in abstractions other than the man with white beard -- entities such as "destiny" or "true love" which can seem equally fanciful. I also have the ability to imagine a society that does not use bombs to resolve disagreements and can instead trust in reason and diplomacy. The idealistic idea that one person can make a difference in the world motivates me every day in my quest to become a doctor. As a child, I read the story of Peter Pan, a teenager who refused to grow up and so stayed on Never Never Earth, a magical place where he would not age and could spend his days on spectacular adventures. I hope that as I get a year older, I can always keep a little Peter Pan in my mind, that I can see a story in even the simplest things around me and that I will continue, every Christmas Eve , to leave cookies. and milk for Santa.