Sean Alvey is a 6’4” senior at Jesuit High School in Beaverton and will be attending Willamette University, one of the earliest coeducational institutions and his father’s alma mater, where he will study Math and English towards a Law Degree. According to his high school counselor, Sean is “one of a kind”, and not only excels academically as an honor roll student with a 3.7 GPA last semester, but also participates in Crusader football, basketball, and track and field. Sean has been a Boy Scout since 1st grade and exemplifies the top 3 elements of Scout Law in his daily behavior by being Helpful, Kind and Reverent. He is currently Life Rank and will become an Eagle Scout in September. The Skyliners scholarship committee was impressed with Sean’s “What Being Tall Means to Me” essay and he truly is a “lighthouse” of society. His winning essay can be viewed below. Congratulations Sean! “WHAT BEING TALL MEANS TO ME”
By Sean Alvey
“People turn to tall people in emergencies. They’re the lighthouses of society.”
-Mike Heck (“The Middle”)
-Mike Heck (“The Middle”)
Throughout the course of my life, I have found that being tall means being of service to others. I have spent a large portion of my life grabbing items from high shelves, plugging electronics into overhead electrical sockets, and hanging Christmas decorations. Regardless of how easy the task may otherwise be, people of likely equal competence always seem to turn to me for leadership and assistance often, it seems, simply because I am tall. People often look to me for advice or leadership because of my commanding presence, as if I am innately more skilled at giving good advice or providing solid leadership. When something needs to get done, it is often I, the tallest person in my group of friends, who is delegated to lead the project. While I readily admit that I am not necessarily the best leader in the world, I sometimes think that by sheer virtue of my size, people are more willing, even enthusiastic, about following my lead. But with this greater influence, this greater power, I know there comes greater responsibility.
Being a “lighthouse of society” means meeting the responsibility of being the best person that I can be, both for myself and for others. At my high school, our slogan is “graduating men and women for others.” I have taken this slogan to heart during my four years of high school, and I have tried to incorporate it into all my actions. Being tall gives me an abundance of opportunities to help others in a myriad of ways. Yes, it can sometimes mean the obvious, such as taping the poster to the highest part of the wall or putting the topper on the Christmas tree. But often it means so much more, especially where, in my case, great height and physical strength combine.
On the football field, my size has provided the commanding presence that I need on the line to protect and lead my teammates, who are also my brothers. For my 2010 National Boy Scout Jamboree troop, my size meant being the clear choice to serve as Troop Quartermaster in charge of building, packing and loading all supplies our 40-person troop would need during the 17-day adventure in Virginia. For my Christian Service project last summer, my size led to my obvious selection as Assistant Basketball Coach for disadvantaged inner-city children. Had this not happened, however, I would never have met the children who ended up teaching me more lessons about life than I taught them about basketball.
Being tall has given me an abundance of opportunities to help others, opportunities I may not otherwise have been given. And through a lifetime of such opportunities, I feel that I have developed confidence, strength, and even a sort of charisma due to my height and my proven willingness and ability to help others. At this point, I cannot imagine what my life would be like were I not so tall. Now, I just aim to be the best person I can be, while trying to help others by virtue of the opportunities that being tall provides. I love being “vertically gifted”, and I thank God every day for this gift.
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