College Admissions Essay: Finding Myself In High School

Being a senior in high school is bittersweet. We’ll all be done with a huge chapter in our lives that has taken up ⅔ of our book so far. Though I am sad to leave, I am even more excited. The school gave me some tips to survive in the college and the rest of my life. School has taught me many things from how to write an essay to how to find the power of a triangle to how to cook Spanakopita correctly. I have also learned a lot about myself and my beliefs.

My Junior Year of high school just recently started. I have learned so many different things while attending high school, and still have over a year to learn even more. As Matthew Kelly said, “whether you are sixteen or sixty, the rest of your life is ahead of you. You cannot change one moment of your past, but you can change your whole future.” This means while I have done a lot in my past, I cannot change anything that has already happened, but I am able to change my future. One of the most important things that I am involved in right now is school. My first two years at CBHS were good, and I made decent grades. Some of the grades that I made I am not very happy with now but I cannot change that so I need to focus on my grades right now because those are the ones I can change.

Almost a year ago I started my first day of high school, to some people that may seem like one of the least important days of their life, but for me it made me realize that it was going to be the last year I walk through those doors to attend class, and the last time I step out onto the soccer field with some of my closest friends. As I walked through the double doors that would officially start my last year at USA High School, I looked up and my entire graduating classes names were posted up on the wall, where soon our pennants of the colleges we were going to attend would hang. High school holds some of the happiest memories for some people, from times they were at Friday night football games with their best friends, or late-night adventures they went on, but for me it was being on the soccer team. Throughout my entire high school career, I was happiest when out on the field, playing against local schools with the people I have gotten so close to over the years.

The first morning I walk into my job I actually went to the wrong floor but I got there eventually. I felt very nervous, as any other freshmen intern would feel. Everyone at accounting said I was cute and tiny, which I thought was good. They didn’t have me work on anything major as it was my first day so I don’t think they want to overwhelm me with work on my first day. I could instantly tell that I would like it here, everyone was so nice and it was like they were family and I wanted to be a part of that family. Now that I’m at the end of my first year I can proudly say that I have fulfilled my goal of getting to know many of my co-workers and forming a bond with most of them. I’ve learned many things from my co-workers. They’ve given me advice about school and how I should carry myself through the future. For that, I can’t thank them enough on how much of an impact they have made in my high school experience.

I was thirteen when I graduated from middle school. It was a big day in my family, my parents hadn't finished high school, so they were very excited to see another daughter move onto high school and higher education. This was an event that showed how willing I was to pursue an education, in my family it showed maturity and responsability.

I just can’t believe there is only few more days of high school left. As the days are getting closer and closer, it's getting sad. I still remember the day I stepped into Maine East High School as a Freshman, at that time, all I wished for was to graduate from this school with good grades. High school was not the way I imagined, it is way different from what I thought and definitely different from Middle School. Freshman year was the “exploring/adventure” year, finding where each classes were, what activities/clubs were offered at this school and many more. Freshman year went quickly and then Sophomore year came up. Sophomore year was probably the least stressful year in high school but from Sophomore year my family and friends started asking me the scariest question “What are you doing after high school, which career?

I remember waking up that morning feeling rather pleasant. That was until I remembered it was Monday. I really didn’t want to go to school that day. I was in second grade and already wanted to graduate. I thought I was done. Nothing was ever fun at school it seemed. There was a girl in my class named Vanessa that always seemed like to make my life miserable, her hair was absolutely gorgeous. Ringlets of chocolate brown that shined down her back. It made me sick . She’d always glare at me and make rude comments that got on my nerves. However, there was something that wasn’t all bad at school and that was my teacher. She handed out candy to everyone just about everyday. And she always had a big smile on her face. She was my “protector.” Mrs.Armstrong

When I was in my Junior year of highschool, I was plagued by debilitating migraines. Because of this my grades suffered tremendously, this was especially true when it came to my AP Statistics class. I was either having a migraine or suffering from the brain fog that precedes and follows a severe migraine. No matter how hard I tried to pick myself up by my bootstraps, I simply couldn’t force my brain to pick up any new information. Even now thinking retrospectively I can’t remember most of Junior year. So it goes without saying that I failed my statistics class cataclysmically, and I have been plagued by a severe sense of failure ever since. But, to my immense relief I have a second chance to redeem myself, this opportunity will not be squandered.

Well where do I begin I’m a kid from a small but growing town in northern California called Salinas. Something that sets me apart from other candidates is that I never really expected to go to college until I came into my freshman year of highschool. I've seen my family struggle because they came from Mexico and barely had any type of education. I'm first to admit that my freshman and sophomore years I failed some classes putting me behind on credits. Looking at myself in the mirror one day I told myself “ What are you doing I thought you wanted to go to college and make grandma and grandpa proud”. The very next day I went to my counselor and signed up for every possible way to recover my credits. When summer came I sat by myself and I worked

Early into my second year of high school, I had my eyes set on medical school. I had thought of nothing but. .As such, I research various schools in Michigan and others out of state—looking for the right pre-med program. Finally, after months of research, I applied to the University of Michigan-Dearborn where shortly after submitting my application I received an early admissions letter. Thereafter I completed my final year in high school and soon graduated the following year. Months later during the fall I began my first semester at the university. Once there I declared a Major in Biology but also concentrated on taking the needed classes for the pre-med program.

While being in high school, I was ready to get out and start college. I always heard about how great college was and I want to experiences for myself. I expected college to be laid back and pretty cool. My hopes were to have fun, meet new people, and continue to make good grades. Now that I am in college, I can say that I am actually doing what I wanted.

As a high school student, one of the biggest obstacles I have faced in my path to being a doctor is a lack of opportunities. Becoming a doctor requires dedication, hard work, but also a bit of luck. When it comes to the dedication required to become a doctor, I do not think I am lacking. Each week, I go to the local hospital to volunteer afterschool, and have over the course of these four years, completed nearly four hundred hours of volunteering. Hard work is another area that I do not have a problem with; I have taken AP courses in science and math, including Calculus and Chemistry and am currently taking Physics and Biology. But if there was one area where I wish I were more proficient in, it would be in quality of those volunteering hours.

Living life in the fast lane for the second year in a row. No parental guidance. Freedom. The best times of a person’s life. College is certainly an experience that is a wake-up call for high school students transitioning to and adult lifestyle. My particular experience, my sophomore year, caused me to learn some life lessons the hard way and fast. I allowed all of the fun that undergraduate life had to offer steer me, and my focus, away from my main purpose of being in school which was to earn a degree. I felt as if I had no discipline, nobody to hold me accountable for my actions and grades other than myself. When I began my undergraduate career, I had no drive to do more than what was required of me in order to continue my enrollment at Hampton University. Lastly, the lack of focus that I portrayed was evident by the choices that I made. It took me having to fail three courses in one semester to see the consequences of how I was living. Failing those three courses at once caused a catalyst to occur in my educational and personal life that motivated me to change and do better overall.

This year, is my last year of highschool. For a very long time I have dreamed of being a senior and finally graduating from high school. I remember when I was a child, I wanted nothing more than to be a big, scary Senior. Now that I am this Senior and the end of the line has come, I am not sure how to feel. I expected to feel ecstatic and amazed as to how far I’ve come. I expected to feel empowered and more of an adult with a plan. Truth is, I don’t feel that way. I have, thankfully, a plan for my future, but I don’t feel like being a senior is as big as a deal as I had made it out to be when I was young. As I grew older, I realized that while getting older is fun, the responsibilities that come with it, are not all fun and games. As a senior, I realized that the real journey will begin once I step onto the college campus. Elementary, middle, and high school, are more like stepping stones for what you will become once the parental controls are turned off. That is why it is important, and what I realized a bit too late, to utilize the time you have now.

It was 2016, and I was finally a senior in high school. Being a senior in high school was something that I had dreamed of since my early middle school days, and at last, I was there. It was the last year in one of my least favorite environments, and I couldn’t wait to graduate and move away from the only place I had ever known. I had lived in the same town for seventeen years, and I had gone to the same school with the same people for thirteen years. I was looking forward to something new in my life. I was most excited for my senior year because it was the year that I was going to choose where I wanted to move away to and what school I wanted to spend the next four years of my life at. As the year moved along, I slowly realized that I wasn’t moving away and that I’d be staying home to attend college, which was one of the most difficult decisions that I ever had to make.