The College Essay of Finn Fox, R.I.P.

Today I devote my column to the college essay of Finn Fox. His parents, John and Erica, are sharing it in the hope that it encourages more parents to nurture their children's exploration and independence.

"Tragically and still unfathomably," they write, "our beloved Finn was diagnosed with brain cancer in January 2023 and died in September, before he could begin his college adventure. If so moved, please consider a donation to fund critical childhood cancer research so more kids can get a little lost, figure it out, and enjoy a lifetime of exploration."

Finn Fox's College Essay

It's just around this corner, I swear," says Marco for the tenth time. We are eleven years old, riding scooters through Chinatown in San Francisco, looking for the China Banks, a famous skateboarding spot.

We wind our way through narrow streets with market stalls that smell like fish and fresh blood. Around the next corner, still no luck. More fish, more blood. We are thirty miles from home, alone. And now we are lost. No adults to protect us. No one to ask for help because no one speaks English. And for now, no cell service.

Some people think we have bad parents, but we have loving, caring parents. They just happen to believe that real world challenges are good for building problem-solving skills. At eleven, my friend Marco and I are free to roam. The rules are simple: 1. Stay together 2. Be back by dinner.

So we head to the city alone to explore every chance we get. It takes an hour to get there by train. When we get hungry, we scrounge for small change and live off of Cheetos and Sprite. We get lost often, but we never panic. We know we can figure it out. I am grateful for the freedom and responsibility my parents gave me then, because I have a deep sense of confidence now. When I face a difficult test or exam, I trust that I can figure it out.

Those free-roam days gave me the courage to sign up for the toughest AP and Honors classes and know that I can be successful. They also gave me the courage to try new things. I started lacrosse in ninth grade and now I am a Varsity Player and a Co-Captain. Without those early experiences, I may never have applied or received a spot in the competitive Rotary Youth Leadership Conference, or interviewed to become an electric-bike mechanic, knowing little about electric bikes.

I see the unknown as an adventure, something to go toward, not something to fear. The unknown to me as a kid was Chinatown in a city 30 miles from home. Now the unknown is the future. I can't predict what comes next, but I trust that no matter what happens, it will be okay.

In the future, I'll finally have the chance to help people using my knowledge and skills. For example, an old man came into the bike shop with a broken derailleur. He had a stroke recently, so he struggled to communicate. All he could do was point and gesture with his hands.

While I worked on his bike, he stood next to me, watching in delight. Eventually I fixed his derailleur and sent him on his way. The satisfaction from helping this old man was worth more than the money I was being paid.

We don't know how to solve some of the biggest problems in the world today, but if we're willing to be flexible, get lost a little, and accept failure as part of the process, we can create innovative solutions to complex problems. All we need is a mindset of exploration.

At eleven years old, Marco and I are devoted to exploring. That's how we end up lost in the heart of Chinatown. All we see are steep rolling hills and trolleys. Then a trolley that stopped to let off passengers starts rolling again. When it moves, we see the path to the iconic China Banks.

We spend all day skating them. We board the train home covered in sweat, full of joy and adrenaline. We wake up the next day and do it all again. -- F.F.

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Lenore Skenazy is president of Let Grow, a contributing writer at Reason.com,and author of "Has the World Gone Skenazy?" To learn more about Lenore Skenazy (Lskenazy@yahoo.com) and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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