Essay Example: Friendship Bracelets
College Essay Example (Shared with permission, for educational and training purposes)
Friendship Bracelets
The setup for creating each bracelet is identical: pick colors from the communal bag of thread, cut and tie them around a carabiner, hook the carabiner to your water bottle, anchor the bottle between your legs, and begin. When making the bracelet, you must always have a person in mind and a reason for gifting it to them. I have collected dozens over the years, and each one tells a story.
My favorite, an ocean-themed chevron bracelet, is a reminder of a fundamental, unspoken rule: Backpackers never keep their traditions secret.
The bracelet was given to me by Lizzie, a girl who’d never backpacked before. We helped her through the three-day camping process, and as dinner was cooking and chatter filled the campsite, I taught her how to make the most basic bracelet. Passing these kinds of traditions is how the backpacking community continues to thrive. Lizzie went on to make many more bracelets, but she gave me that first one.
For most, pastels are a lighthearted color. For me, they represent action in moments of danger.
We naively ate granola huddled under our tarp as the rain poured down. We’d carelessly propped the tarp at the base of a hill, and rainwater soon began funneling inside. Initially, everyone looked out for themselves, rushing to gather their items. But in a moment of clarity, I realized our belongings would get soaked if we didn’t work together. I asked each person to take a role (collect sleeping bags, or gather food) while I hurried to dig a moat around the tarp deep enough for the water to absorb into the earth. Later, after the crisis, Sam started making the pastel-colored bracelet as a token of her appreciation for my leadership.
Not all lessons come from moments of triumph. My green and purple bracelet reminds me of that.
I’ve climbed six mountains standing at 14,000 feet (fourteeners), so another 4 AM wakeup didn’t seem difficult. Initially, everything was normal, but my body shut down the moment we began to climb the final stretch. I had a panic attack, and was unable to calm myself down. I told my friends to continue, and they did, except for Ellie, who decided to keep me company. They were gone for two hours, leaving ample time for Ellie to make me a bracelet while I focused on breathing. There is an ethos of pushing past failure and never giving up no matter the circumstance, but I couldn’t, and that was scary. I went to bed feeling unaccomplished in the traditional sense, but I had a new understanding of my body’s limits, recognizing their importance over fleeting moments of triumph.
The neon bracelet made by Alex is a reminder of a lesson in perseverance.
Alex and I were part of a group planning to peak three fourteeners in one day. Our friends called us crazy. Regardless, Alex promised to make me a complex bracelet if we peaked all three. We left at 2 AM and reached the first peak by 6, celebrating briefly before moving on. It started raining at the top of the second mountain, and the first waves of doubt soon followed. I called for everyone's attention and declared it was time for a “vibe check.” People were cold, hungry, uncomfortable, and half of us were crying. But it was just a mental hurdle we needed to get over. I rallied the group; our friends back home doubted us, which was exactly why we shouldn’t give up. Alex’s bracelet on my wrist is evidence that we persevered.
Building community through trading bracelets has allowed me to create deep relationships with myself and others. The connections I have made in these moments are what I will strive to surround myself with for the rest of my life. Choose colors, cut, tie, hook, anchor – and begin.
