So here’s the problem…I am not just one girl who thinks one thing and does one action. I am complex. I am not easily defined, yet I have to do it in less than 500 words. So, here goes nothing.

Mau•ra [mawr-uh]
noun

1.
a girl who wants independence
Once a girl enters her teenage years, she thinks mommy and daddy aren’t needed anymore. So she starts to try new things and see what it is really like to be “on your own”. Mommy and Daddy understand her path of righteousness and show signs of their understanding. First step, she goes to the movies alone. Mom and dad may drop her off but getting inside is all up to her. There is a giant line to wait in with tons of people known and unknown with a cashier who hates his job and expresses it with his oh so enthusiastic personality. Her mind whips around every corner with a new question. How do I pay for this? Where do we sit? Do I look cute? What should I eat? What do my friends think of this movie?
I am seventeen years old, still whipping my head around, asking questions everywhere I go. I am not independent yet. College will allow me to dabble in independence. It will be, for me, like the moment when I let out a sigh of relief as I saw my parents waiting for me after the movie. College will teach me how to think on my feet, take care of myself, and maybe even find myself. Mom and Dad won’t be waiting outside my dorm. Then again, do I need them there?
2.
a girl who plays poker
Yes, it’s cliché, but life is a poker game. We each get our hand, maybe a royal flush or a pair of twos. A girl not having a prom date is a problem. To her, this may be a bad hand. On September 8th, I was dealt a hand hard to handle. My father died of stage four colon cancer. Two months later, it is still hard to handle. Yet, somehow I make the hand work. I put out my chips and pray with a pair of twos. I still go to school, still go to swim practice, and still have the time to see my friends and live my life. The last year I have been figuring out what to do with a pair of twos. It is good days that convince me to take a chance on the hand I was dealt. I have overcome what seemed to be impossible only to find that nothing is impossible with a pair of twos.

In 485 words, I was partially defined. This is the meaning of Maura so far. Still, Webster continues to evolve as do I. Clearly, I can never be fully defined because I am constantly redefined. Problem solved.