College Admissions Essay: My High School Career

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.

Looking back at the years that I have completed in high school is a funny but a true life changer. If I was to go back to one year of high school I would want to go back to freshman year. One reason why I would want to go back to freshman year is to talk to myself. Another reason I would want to go back it tell myself to listen more. The last reason would to see if I could improve myself in any way.

So far, the 14 years of my life have been exciting and crazy. The places I have gone, the people that I have meet, are all part of my crazy life. Not all the things are good, but not all the things are bad. Everything that has happened over these 14 years have been an equal balance of both, these are the things that have contributed in making me who I am today.

After eleven years worth of education, I’m finally on year twelve; senior year. This year is my year, the year that I find out more about myself and step foot out into the real world. Reality has hit me like a freight train this year and I’m realizing that I’m an adult now. It is time for me to get out of my comfort zone and start shaping my future. There is so much more life ahead of me that I need to prepare for; this calls for a game plan.

It has always been hard for me to properly envision my future, as it is always changing. As a child I thought of becoming a doctor, in middle school I dreamt of becoming a journalist, and my plans for the future are still shifting. However, there has always been one common element among my aspirations for the future, and that is the desire to engage in and improve the lives of others. This central desire is what leads me to choose Georgetown as the school which perfectly encapsulates my interests.

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.

Throughout most of my high school career, I looked down on community colleges and believed that they were only for those who didn’t care about school or who hadn’t managed to get into a 4-year university. I admired those who went to schools like UT, Baylor, or A&M and thought that I would be one of them upon graduating. However, towards the end of my senior year, that all changed. Before continuing my education, I wanted to not only explore other career options, but also prepare myself mentally and academically. As a smaller, less expensive, and closer alternative to 4-year universities, Lone Star College offered the optimal environment.

We start off thinking about our futures very early on as children we are taught since day one of kindergarten to graduate high school, go to college, get an education, and then work for the next 50 years until you retire. We start to develop our thoughts on what our career is going to be , our dream schools, who we are as individuals, we grow up watching our parents, relatives and neighbors living the path they chose. Watching the adults around us helped developed our minds and gave us an idea of what we can do. My father is a sheet metal worker for a big company and my mother was a travel agent both never got a college education, my neighbor graduated from the University of Santa Barbra, my kindergarten teacher got her associates degree

“Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I’m doing.” - Phil Jackson

As a seventeen-year-old high school student, a lot of pressure is being placed on my shoulders to decide upon my future plans and goals. All these decisions that are going to shape the rest of my life looming closer by the day, both an exciting and altogether terrifying prospect. Everyone seems to have an idea of how my life should play out; society says finish high school, go to college or university, enter the workforce, purchase a house, and have two point five children. Our society wants us to conform, to follow the typical path in life and contribute to the country collectively. My parents, on the other hand, want my happiness, but they would also like for me to do well in life, a tricky combination. Job titles like doctor, lawyer and politician are thrown around constantly in conversations regarding where I am headed, as if saying these things repeatedly will somehow make them a reality. Myself, I’m just focused on graduating high school, the idea that soon my life will be changing so drastically still hasn’t really sunk in yet. The truth is, I don’t know where I’m going thus far, which makes this essay a good start in figuring that out.

During the latter part of my 15-year career, the Lord blessed me with opportunities to grow in my leadership and public speaking skills. I managed a staff of seven, a budget of several million dollars and made presentations to professional boards and potential business partners. After the Lord called me to be home with my children full time, I struggled with the meaning and usefulness of the opportunities I had been blessed to experience. They felt wasted in light of the carpool driving, diaper changing and house cleaning duties that were now the staples of my new “career” at home. After a semester in my church’s MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group, I was asked to co-lead the steering team. This invitation was definitely from the Lord, as I

    I am very proud of the grades I have received throughout my years in highschool. When I am given a task I like to complete it to the best of my ability. Getting good grades has always come naturally to me. I have spent several hours completing my homework and projects, which have been very beneficial for my grades. I have taken several classes that have been very useful to my education. From math and english to spanish and the nursing assistant class, I have obtained many important skills that will help me throughout college.

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.

Class of 2017, it gives me great honor to be here alongside you all on this joyous day to receive the product of all our suffering. It astonishes me on how fast all the time went by. Seems like only yesterday I walked into the wrong classroom as a confused freshman. That yesterday was four years ago. The rush of time during these years has worried me. If time seems to be going so fast during high school, how will the rest of our years pass? Will they pass by slowly or quickly? For most people, “the trouble is you think you have time” (Buddha).

Challenging situations are mere hurdles in my path that I will always remember and learn from. I didn’t always have such a positive outlook on the issue until the time I faced a problem that may affect my life forever. My freshman year in high school will be one that I will never forget because I had all the opportunities in front of me, but I couldn’t find the ability to seek them out and for that reason, it’s something that I regret. Coming into freshman year I had plenty of influential people in my life tell me the importance of the first year, however, I elected to take their word lightly and ended up receiving the worst grades of my life. This decision that I chose to make has haunted me ever since and I have strived to make every possible