The Longest Ladder As part of completing this application for college entrance I would like to share part of my personal background. There are several perspectives about me that are not completely evident from the other parts of the application. In my four years in high school I have come to realize that life is a series of steps on a ladder. In the beginning it’s all game then before you know it time is running out and there is still a long way to climb. For me, the ladder started alone at a new school with no grades, no team and no friends. It was depressing to wake up every day starting completely over on the ladders of life. Athletics have always come more easily for me but I had no idea where to begin on the academic ladder while at the same time facing the pressures of the ever present social ladder. …show more content…
I quickly learned that I was underprepared by my experience in junior high and instead of a positive learning experience I found my classes to be demeaning. Trying to focus was almost impossible with my ADHD and even the medication did not help. It did not take long for my self-esteem to diminish and even my teachers began to treat me as though I was not capable of succeeding. Needless to say my academic ladder started poorly and took a turn for the worse. With little hope for positive outcomes in academics I threw in the towel and shifted my focus to climbing the social ladder. Though for the first few weeks I found myself at the bottom of the social ladder I managed to make friends through being funny. Being the class clown was a good way to make friends at first but I often found myself getting kicked out of class. To make things worse the friendships I was making led me to spend time with the wrong crowd. Looking back my initial footing on the social ladder left me with associates more than friends and ultimately prevented me from one of the things I loved most, participating in
I went into my freshman year of high school very insecure about my own potential. Never did I think that I had it in me to be one of the “smart kids”. Fortunately for me, I signed up for all the wrong classes and I was forced to go to a school (yes, McDevitt was not my choice but my parents) that had terrific, dedicated teachers that knew I was taking the wrong course and did something about it. Like in Th...
When I was in elementary school, I fell behind in many of my classes. This inefficiency was further expanded when my family moved to New Jersey from Massachusetts, and my parents could see that I was having issues. So they took me to therapists and tutors to see what could be done, and they came to the conclusion that I had ADHD. My parents chose not to medicate me, and instead sent to me to various tutoring programs, some of which I stayed in until high school. My grades were average, so there were no complaints. But college is a different
Making friends was a big obstacle to face. I needed to act lIke the others to fInd frIends. I met my fIrst when my fIrst grade teacher assIgned us as bathroom buddIes, hIs name was Brandon LIvIngston. We beca...
Entering my first year into high school my mind was juvenile I was not yet adjusted to the high school atmosphere. At the time I was still worried about the little things in school such as friends and associates. My first priority was never my work; it used to be entertainment over all. Along that came with my priorities came procrastination and that led to me delaying my assignments hoping for a teacher to give me a "second chance". Forthcoming, at the end of the second quarter my ninth grade year I received a rude awakening.
For example, it did not hit me until my junior year that I needed to get my grades together. All of my close friends were being admitted into National Honor Society and I was left out. It made me feel dimwitted, as if I was frowned upon. “This is it,” I remember thinking to myself, “I am going to do better and do my absolute best.” I started with putting school first. Hanging out with friends and everything else became a privilege and reward for every good grade I made. Let me tell you, it is not easy. My auditory processing disorder has also prevented me from hearing important things that are helpful to my learning ability. I learned that I need to move myself to front of the classroom and focus. I have given it my all, this past year and my
When meeting someone new you always get scared or have a little nerves bundled up inside. It’s even like that when someone is born, like a cousin or a new sibling that’s how it was for me having my new baby sister being born, I didn’t think I was ready for a baby sister. Even since I was already graduated and my brother not too far behind me graduating this year. It would literally be a handful for her to start over, my aunt had told me it would be better for my mom because she’s lonely. But I guess my mom wanted to started fresh she was missing having little ones running around she wanted my brother and I to be little again but that couldn’t happen. And this is where she got the idea to start over. And if I had to admit I wasn’t very happy with this whole
I started high school with pretty similar goals as I did college, I hoped to be as involved as possible, get good grades, and make friends. I summed this list up as just wanting to have a normal life during my four years, but as easy as this may have sounded it was a bit of a struggle and not just for the classic high school teen drama. Before the age of 1, I was brought into the hospital with just over a 105 degree fever followed by frequent hospitalizations throughout my childhood. I was later diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, so basically I was ten times more likely to get sick, followed with a sickness that was twenty times worst for me followed by a night in the hospital almost every time. With my goal in mind I joined the soccer
The aroma of cotton candy and popcorn pervaded the air. With my sister and brother strolling to the right of me and my parents to my left, we admired our surroundings. We entered Universal Studios, one of the greatest amusement parks in the world and it seemed like a dream to my sixth grade self. Straightaway, we went ride to ride, enjoying the sun and the scenery. Then as we walked towards another section of the park, I heard piercing screams. I looked up and saw vibrant, green steel tracks in the distance. The tracks looped and turned, towering up into the sky and sharply back down, and small carts filled with people rapidly dashed around on the steel monster. I had never seen such a massive roller coaster in person, and watching the ride petrified me.
High school has been a journey, it has built a foundation for my future. Through the sleepless nights and early mornings, I have had an opportunity to mature and step out of my comfort zone. The demand of going to school, having a job, involving myself in my community and being in a sport has all worked out for my benefit. Now the time has come to step out into the real world.
I decided to leave middle school on a high note. I wanted to be proud of myself and live up to my own expectations. Walking in to sixth grade, I had high sights not just on being smart, but an athlete as well. So with no experience, I joined the track team as a sprinter and a hurdler in the spring of this year. I was the slowest runner there, but I didn’t care.
“Yawwn!” I stretched his arms and tried to pull myself up. Only I couldn’t, “hmmmm,” I said out loud to myself. “It seems as if I can move from side to side but not up. I wonder if I can move downwards.” I turned and saw that I was on the floor, but I wasn’t on the floor of my house. I was on something that looked like silver dust. I found something next to me that looked like a Fitbit tm. I picked it up (or across) there was a sticky note on it that said. “Hello, newcomer if you are here that means that you have gotten here correctly. Press the button to create a gravity sphere.” I looked at the Fitbit-like thing and pressed the button. I realized that I was able to get up again. I saw that the note said bubble so I took it
The very beginning of my academic career started in elementary school. The very basis of education, setting the foundation for who I was as a learner. Though elementary is a distant memory, the lessons have impacted me still. I was told that I was smart and above my level. During then, I was actively involved in numerous sports and competitions. This made for quite the shock during the transition to middle school. My academic life changed dramatically in the following months. Insecurities I buried begun to show. The feeling of being unworthy, persistently comparing myself to others. My accomplishments were undermined by the notion that there was someone better. Yet, this was only middle school, a pivotal point in development. My grades began to fall abruptly. Previous achievements seemed meaningless in comparison. It felt like I was silently drowning underneath the schoolwork and the feeling of inadequacy.
Preparing for life after high school requires success in many different areas. Since I have personally excelled in athletics and academics, I have a good start for my life ahead of me. I never realized how much succeeding in school and sports would actually help me. Just by working hard I have been given so many opportunities; for instance scholarships, different school options, and jobs.
My most meaningful accomplishment was making it through my first year of high school. However, it wasn’t the schooling that proved difficult. It wasn’t a social anxiety problem or having to eat the cardboard they served for lunch daily. It was the running. Literally running. My school had joined the state initiative to make sure that every student completed at least one year of an athletic program before graduation. Yet, I failed to think of a sport where being underweight and lanky helped at all. So I ran track, specifically the 1600 meter race thinking, “What the hell at least if I collapse it won’t be because I got tackled by Ray Lewis’s cousin right?” I remember always walking up to the starting line with my heart in my throat and the track
As a teenager I was an avid reader and excelled academically until I was in the ninth grade when I conceded to peer pressure and took a turn for the worse. I became lackadaisical and nonchalant, and little by grades fell. When I took my mid-term examinations in the ninth grade my report card was so poor that my mother had to be called in to collect it and have a parent-teacher session to discuss