College Essay On My Hero Journey

Stephen Richards once said, “When you do what you fear most, then you can do anything.” Joseph Campbell has written a three stage theory that every hero in a story goes through, a journey if you will. Every journey is different, but it's always structured around his formula, a hero will: separate from his/her known world into a new one, they'll challenge opposing forces or complete a series of tests, and lastly they return to their world again with a gift. Going along with this formula I've gone through my own hero's journey, and succeeded.

Firstly, my journey began my twelfth grade year of high school. Competing was never a word in my vocabulary or character; I was never the person to stand in front of others and talk, or answer on-spot questions. Fear was a main contributor to my dread of public speaking, there was also a feeling of judgement from others that may have struck the nerves. That all changed when I joined FCCLA; FCCLA stands for Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, and has family as its central focus. I had joined FCCLA for the first time in ninth grade, but never participated in anything. When I joined FCCLA again during my twelfth grade year, I never had any intention of competing, but my advisor encouraged me to at least try. Competing in FCCLA came with several challenges, whether it was

learning new material, practicing for long hours, or competing.

During my senior year, I had competed in two different FCCLA events, I'd like to share my experience with my Recycle and Redesign STAR event. STAR stands for Students Taking

Action with Recognition. STAR Events are competitive events where members can show off skills in leadership, family consumer science and entrepreneurship etcetera. When classes started after winter break, my advisor had been looking for members that would compete in STAR events that were coming up during the spring. She knew I was exceptionally creative and suggested Recycle and Redesign. I knew I wanted to fashion a dress, after making my decision, I looked for material to use as my recycled item. My advisor had been wanting to toss out some ruined table cloths. Then the idea came to mind; a dress made out of a table cloth. There was only one problem: I didn’t know how to assemble clothes, much less a dress. Once I told my advisor about my predicament, she introduced me to her grandmother where she showed me how to measure, cut, and sew. Then there it was, a race against time to fashion a dress before spring came.

Once I had learned how to craft a dress and finish my presentation for my recycle and redesign event, I assumed I was done. Boy was I wrong; it took three weeks to finish making my competition dress and presentation board. There were only three weeks left before Regionals, so my advisor had me practice my presentation speech in front of school faculty members and students. In the beginning, I did my entire presentation in front of my FCCLA advisors. Once I had my speech down, my advisors had me write down just a couple of words on index cards that would help me remember just one paragraph. I practiced everyday up until the point that I didn’t even need my index cards anymore, but I still had them with me just so I had something in my hand. Even though I knew my presentation by heart, it didn’t change the fact that I was still scared of public speaking.

Finally, after weeks of practicing and preparation, I was very nervous on the day that I presented my hard work. My hands were shaking and my heart was beating fast. I texted my

boyfriend for reassurance, and he told me that I would do great. The door opened and my name was called; there I was in front of three judges, all knowledgeable on sewing. I presented the dress and before I knew it, I had finished my entire speech. I was so relieved that it was done and over with, after I had stepped out of the room. Those same feelings I had, the before and after feelings, were still present when I went to state events as well.

The work that was put into learning new things, practicing, and competing may have been hard but pulled off at the end. The results for my event in Recycle and Redesign, however, weren’t shown straight away. I waited a week after regions to find out what I scored. When my results came in I was incredibly proud of myself. My score was high enough for a gold medal and I was also able to compete for in state level competition. Unlike my regional results my state results came the next day. I sat through an entire awards ceremony, before it was my event’s turn to walk up to the stage. I received a silver medal in front of the entire Georgia FCCLA. It may have not been a gold medal, but I was still content to be representing my school and for all of the winning FCCLA members, from my school, in the newspaper.

Before the school year ended, my school was recognized by the Whitfield County School Board, for all of our accomplishments.

I was told that being recognized by the school board was a great accomplishment for the school; it enabled the school to receive more funding for repairs, and clubs, etcetera. Competing was not only amazing for myself, but it helped those around me as well, and I couldn’t have asked for a better senior year. Russell Mark once said, “Competing at the highest level is the greatest test of one's character.” That being said, I do agree with his quote; people do show that there is a different side of themselves when

competing.