College Admissions Essay: My Passion For Success

Goal: Success
Ready?
I have always aspired to be successful. At the age of eight, I dreamed of ending world hunger. At ten, I had ambitions of becoming the first female president. By twelve, I added obtaining a PhD to my list of goals. I have always had a wild passion to achieve great things; however, something always held me back.
Who will take me seriously? Will I be good enough? What if I fail? My passion for success was hindered by these questions which came directly from my fear of failure. By last year of middle school, I fully recognized that I gave my absolute best only in situations where I felt comfortable; where I felt safe The classroom was one of them. I could hide behind pen and paper; but anything outside my comfort zone nearly paralyzed me. For almost 15 years, I

I started running cross country during my 7th grade of middle school which led me to track and field. During my first year the questions that I asked myself were louder than ever before: Who will take me seriously? Will I be good enough? What if I fail? I was terrified of performing badly. However, there was something about pushing my body so close to its breaking point but knowing that it would not break that made me realize that I could do so much more than I imagined. Small breakthrough.
The more I ran the more I brushed shoulder with failure as I lost many races before being able to win any but, I began to see failure and success as counterparts. With every race and every new track season, I realized that failure was nothing more than a catalyst to success and that with failure, triumph could also be found.
With this knowledge, I slowly gained the confidence to allow myself to be vulnerable enough—in all situations—to give my absolute best. What came next was growth; I strived for excellence in all aspects of my life because I was no longer afraid of the small setbacks. I was beginning to come to terms with myself and as I result my transition to adulthood became more clear.