ChEssays: From Pawn to Power by Matthew Anderson

From Pawn to Power by Matthew Anderson

(Age 18, Ryan Academy High School, Norfolk, Virginia)

I am a pawn in the board of life. My power is limited. A lot of times people see me as the weakest piece, but what they don’t know is someday I will be the strongest. Pieces, known as my family and friends, fall around me but the only thing I can do is move forward and focus on getting to the end and reach my full potential.

But like a Raisin in the sun, my dream was deferred. My King had fallen. It felt like the game was over. It wasn’t though. A person who I thought was my opponent told me when you are out of moves you may lose, but you don’t give up. So I reset the game and everything seemed to be going better, but things were getting worse, consistently in confrontations with my Queen, making moves without thinking, trying to run and get to a goal I could not see anymore with all the different opponents in my way.

Yet still, I am moving, trying to take the pieces that I can’t take. I become boxed in by the King and Queen and at this point all I can see is another defeat.

Then, something finally happens to me. I have been holding on to the fact that I lost my King before and I don’t want to lose no one else, so I try never to get close. At this time I decide to let it go. I realize it wasn’t my fault he fell. I finally come back to the reality of the game and I realize I was never in danger. Finally I move smarter, wiser. I make it to the other side of the board. Now I have all the power, but the game is not over yet.

My eyes open. I am drenched in sweat and al you can hear is the pulse of the crowd. I look around and I see millions of people wearing 76ers jerseys. About half of them have “Anderson” on the back. The clock winds down “10,9,8,7…” I run up. I get the ball at the three point line. I look at the scoreboard 102-104. “4,3…” I shoot. The ball is in the air, but I turn around, not worried if I win or lose because in my head all I could think of was the simple fact that I have my life in checkmate even in my dreams.

ChEssays: My Life As the Chess Queen by Raven Niles

My Life As the Chess Queen by Raven Niles

(Age 18, Ryan Academy High School, Norfolk, Virginia)

Life is a constant battle. People come and people go. Things are give and are torn away from us. We have to work for everything we have, and we have to work twice as hard to keep it.

Life is not an easy game to play, it is thrown at us and we are expected to catch it fast as it comes. Life gives us the unexpected. There is not one smile that is permanent. Love comes and goes. Heartache is a deleterious emotion that can make our ways of thinking very destructive. This is our battle.

Every move we make affects the rest of our lives and everyone around us. One day we could be standing proud and strong and the next day we have fallen on our own lies and mistakes.

Life is a daily battle and one big game of irreversible strategic moves.

Chess is very similar. When playing chess you have to think outside the box and plan your moves in advance. One irrational decision, without strategic thinking, could cause the entire game to make a bad turn. You don’t play chess alone. There is another, an opponent, who can affect how much you progress in the game. It’s the same with your life, you make a move and then fate makes a move. These moves and decisions constantly play off against each other, just like chess.

In the complicating and mind stimulating game of chess, the Queen is the most important piece. The Queen can move anywhere She wants. The Queenhas more power than any piece on the board. She has all the control. In life we are just as powerful as the Queen. We are completely in control and it’s up to us if someone takes that away. We are the Queen in our game of life. We can make any moves, life’s just waiting for us to move it.

Life is the biggest game of all. Good decisions will set your life, or chess game, on the path you need it to go. But persistent bad moves and decisions can make life a very poignant journey. A good chess game is never guaranteed, just like life.