College Admissions Essay: My Path To Educational Success

Despite the beliefs of many of my peers, my path towards educational success has not been easy. I was a straight A perfectionist in junior high, but when I first started high school I hung out with the wrong people, the bad crowd, and let everything I had fall apart. Negative thoughts started consume my mind, and I began to believe them, thinking I was a failure and would never be able to reach my dreams because they were 'outrageously high'.

For a while, I wondered if I could achieve anything, but through the support of my parents and teachers who believed in me I pressed forward, tried my best, and ignored the doubts.

My future seemed to be a dark, messy haze, but it all first started coming into view when I volunteered at Camp Barnabas in Missouri for four days and three nights during the summer after my freshman year.

Each volunteer was assigned a kid to watch twenty-four seven, and we were to help them do archery, kayaking, zip lining, basketball, and so much more. I was too young at the time to watch my own kid, but since our group had more kids than able volunteers, I practically had to keep an eye on two. Though it was stressful, a passion for kids with mental disabilities bloomed in my heart. From watching their genuine smiles glow on their faces as we walked them around the camp, the kindness, love, and care they showed me on a day to day basis, and the laughter and joyous yells of victory we shared after winning competitions, I knew that I wanted some part of helping kids with mental disabilities to be in my