My Brilliance Research Paper

What is brilliance? I am not particularly gifted in academics, but I can say for one thing that I am incredibly determined. When I set a goal nothing will stop me from achieving it. I find there to be no greater testament to power and spirit than someone with great determination.

My freshman year, I made what I would later come to realize the biggest mistake I would make in my years of high school. But not only is it my biggest mistake, it’s my biggest drive for success. I struggled with bullying in 8th grade so I begged my parents to pull me out of school, at the time it seemed to be a great idea to participate in online schooling. Online schooling was the best, I didn't have to get up early, no homework, and I could do it in my pajamas. It was summer break all year long. Instead of focusing on my studies I went to the park and watched movies. When it came to doing my school work I did the classes I wanted to do. I wasn't pushing myself to do my school work, I didn't care about my grades I lacked enthusiasm.

At the end of my freshman year, things started to go downhill greatly.

I knew I had hit rock bottom when I received my grade card and most of my grades where Cs and Ds. I was so disappointed in myself, things were not going the way I had at all imagined. But why was I upset? The grades I received were my choice, I could have gotten As but I lacked enthusiasm greatly. It wasn't until my junior year, which I'm currently in that I set a goal to be the absolute best version of myself. My junior year I realized that I wanted to make a difference in society and the only way to do that was to start with myself. I told my parents that it was time for me to go back to regular school. My parents and I both knew I had been well underperforming in my past years. But instead of hanging on to the past, I’m working to build an even stronger future for myself. My drive begins with accepting my flaws, I will never stop reaching for my

dreams.

You're probably wondering how I suddenly got all of this enthusiasm and determination. It all began when I was watching a Youth Ted Talk on Youtube where this young girl got into Stanford at the age of 14. The story wasn't about her being a child genius, it was about the never-ending determination and confidence she had. Her story made me question my enthusiasm and how my educational path was going.

Every grading quarter I set a goal for myself to get higher grades than the previous quarter. Right now, my GPA for this quarter is a 3.6, for most that's below average but for me, it’s a huge accomplishment. Additionally, my drive goes far beyond getting acceptable grades, I just recently volunteered to help out at my local Hospital. I have also joined Track which is my first time ever doing a sport. All of these things seemed like big walls before, but now there just small hurdles. I am constantly finding “walls to break” so to speak. I find myself always asking the question “why not” rather than “I cant”. Whilst this goal of mine is not and never will be quite complete I find it to be the most important goal I have and ever will set for myself.

Online schooling did teach me how to be authentic to myself regardless of the social situation.
“breaking the barriers”