Mid-July, after sophomore year, the updated transcripts were released. I already knew what i was going to see, exactly the same as what I received after the end of freshman year. My grade point average was not even close to where i needed it and my class rank was higher than the amount of days in a year. If I was going to achieve my dream of getting into The University of Oklahoma, I was going to have to make some major changes. So I decided right then and there that I was going to make a change, I could not let the same thing happen junior year or any shot i had at being accepted into my dream school was out the door. Summer flew by in the blink of an eye just as it always does, and I found myself getting ready for the first day of Junior
It was the fourth year of my school carrier. In other words, the year of truth if I would make the cut to the higher education track. I was nervous because I knew that I would be capable of going this route, but I the feeling of concern was stronger because I haven’t had performed very well in my fourth year so far. At the end of the school year, I received the shocking news that I didn’t make the cut to go to the school which would have had allowed me to go to University later on in my life. I was sad, disappoint in myself, and lost self-esteem in my educational abilities. At this time, I was more embarrassed then able to realize the real benefit of a system which early on tracks children’s
I felt like my parents thought I was so stupid because i didn’t get in. Day after day, I kept asking myself, “What did i do wrong?”. Everyday i thought, maybe i shouldn't even be in eighth grade because i was supposed to be in seventh grade because i was born in 2002. I felt to stupid and dumb that i just kept thinking that over and over again. When people mentioned SHC at all i would start to tear up. Or when people asked me if i got in or not. I tried all the time to not bawl my eyes out in front of them. I got into Mercy but I didn't really care about that school. I had a friend that is a sophomore now and I think that she told me that she was waitlisted and got in and that gave me a little bit more hope. I was so ready to just go to Wallenburg even though I completely hated that school so much. I just wanted to push on and keep going just Like Odysseus. Even though he had lost everyone and his hope, he still kept pushing on and didn’t give up because he was still determined to reach his goal to get back home to his wife. My goal was to eventually somehow go to SHC.
At the beginning of my freshman year, I was ready for whatever was going to be thrown at me. I was excited for the new school and the new opportunities. I had barely made the golf team but for some reason that did not faze me. I had friends from my prior years of schools and I was happy. The classes were easier than I thought they were going to be which was my biggest worry going in. Little did I know that my friendships were the biggest issue.
During 8th grade, I got called out to the counselor’s office. Entering the counselor’s office, the counselor told me that I was in the honors class. The day I graduated Junior High with honors changed the next 4 years in High school. I promised myself and my mom that I would be graduating High school with honors. For the past 4 years, I have worked so hard to be in the honors program, again. I started to take advanced classes and then I started to take dual credit classes my junior year. If it wasn’t for being in the honors program my 8th grade year, I don’t think I would be as worried about my grades as I am now.
During my early education, meaning elementary school and middle school, I was a very average student. I gave an average amount of effort to my grades, and I received above average results. This did not bother me, until the end of my 8th-grade year. At this point in the year, I was filling out what classes I desired to take the following year, my freshman year. I realized that from this point forward, I had to take my education much more serious, in order to get accepted to whichever college I desired. therefore, when planning my classes, I decided to challenge myself more than I ever have in the past, and take multiple honors courses. I assumed because of my grades, that I had what it took to be an honors-level student, but I was very wrong. One teacher, Mrs. Johnson, made me realize the kind of effort, time and energy needed to be devoted to my education.
Sunday mornings used to consist of lethargic snuggling underneath oversized thermal blankets while binge-watching Netflix for hours with family. Weekends were my favorite because it was the one time during the week I was able to laze in the comforting presence of my mother whom I rarely encountered because of her hectic work schedule. Since my parents divorced when I was only about five years old, I was raised by a hard-working single mother for the majority of my life, 2,614 miles away from my estranged father whom I rarely talk to except on birthdays and national holidays. Not only did my mother have to balance supporting me, but also my grandfather in the Philippines who was in critical condition after his third stroke in May of last year. My aunts and uncles could not cover the medical expenses on their own, so my mother invested as much as she could for the sake of her father. The distress and devastation my mother
5-7. It was the quarter finals at the Mississippi State Championships for individual singles, and I had just lost the first set.
For the past year, I have been attending Truman college. I have been doing well in my classes, I have spent more time studying for my classes and work fewer hours to compensate. I feel ready for UIC like never before. I have been able to find passion in my studying habits and I am much more focused on the goals that I want to achieve. I have never felt so ready and excited to attend at UIC. I organized the goal set that I want to achieve, and one of them is graduating from UIC. I have been pushing myself day by day to become a better student, and I have learned from my past mistakes in my college career. I kept myself away from distractions that sway my focus from my school. These obstacles can only teach me how to become better at something, and I admit that I have changed from my past and became a better student. I became more responsible, and careful with my school work and have held myself accountable for any little mistakes I make through my college
“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” (Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird)
Being one of five children, my parents are not currently capable of aiding in paying for college; leading me to working a full time job of 40+ hours a week in order to support myself. Unfortunately, during the midst of my last semester at UNCG I became quite ill, and cut down on my hours at work which left me struggling to pay my rent and without food most days. One night while I was visiting a friend someone stole my wallet to include my student id, an item needed for a prescription pickup at the student health center. I was unable to replace the card, seeing as I could barley pay my rent, and even though I was able to present documents stating that I attended the school, I was denied my medication, which made me even more ill. Over the course
Way back when I was in second grade my dad was diagnosed with a nearly incurable type of cancer. At the time I wasn't aware of how bad it was, I just knew that if it wasn't cured he would die. His fight lasted over a year but when I started third grade he lost the battle. When I was younger the thought that I might lose my dad had never crossed my mind. I can honestly say that I took what I had for granted, thinking I’d have him for many years to come. Due to this experience I believe that people should appreciate what they have while they still have it.
The best journey of my life so far was when I traveled to Hawaii for the Hawaii baseball World Series in July 2014. The team I went with was from San Diego and not one person from that team knew me besides the coach, which was my girlfriends grandpa. My best friend Mikey Alvarez and I had been chosen to play for the team and when I found out I was playing in Hawaii I was so excited I started to yell “Hawaii here we come,’’ with an extreme amount of excitement. Two weeks before my family and friends family went to Hawaii, we left to San Diego to meet up with the team. We left at the crack of dawn so that we would get there midday and it was very hot, especially because it was so packed in the car. Luckily I had nice ice cold refreshments to
I never thought I would make it this far. Going into high school I remember thinking to myself that this would it be it, post secondary was never in the picture. December 2011, the consequences of a car accident had changed my perspective of everything around me, it was not until soon after that I’ve recognized the value of education. Despite so, the symptoms of a brain injury had held me back, as my emotions also stood in the way. Every day I had thought of giving up, I had failed at doing the simplest tasks. Struggling to adapt to new habits and taking on different approaches, the hardest part was managing chronic headaches. Later I realized how much I took for granted in the past and was determined to prove myself wrong; I will succeed.
What followed was the veritable obstacle course of bureaucratic red tape. My mailbox was almost bursting with forms, applications, packets, and all manner of reading to delve through before the start of classes. How silly could I have been to think that I was finally done with summer reading? After much deliberation (and some help from my parents), I had applied for housing, found my roommates, and registered for orientation.
When I think of my childhood one of the main parts that sticks out is eating at the dinner table with everybody talking and sharing about their day. But I was always interested about my Dad’s day at work; who works as a Sonographer down in Massachusetts. As a little girl, I would always be asking him fifty questions. Wanting to know what he had seen that day at work, hoping that it was going to be something cool or bizarre. Things that you would never see in you everyday life. Of course he would most likely respond with “nope just an average day,” but when he did say that he had seen something really interesting such as conjoined twin or another type of a congenital deformity that day I just found it amazing that he had seen something