College Admissions Essay: My Junior Year Of High School

Back in elementary school, I generally had a great distaste for everything science; I preferred math. Science seemed too simple and I disapproved of the slow-moving pace. One day a year the school hosted Science Matters Day, my favorite people, Scientists, were invited to visit; they brought all kinds of fun activities. One of my favorite memories of all has to be the day they made a hard-boiled egg sink into a bottle. The experiment was still simple, but it was different from anything we had ever done before. This experiment included the use of a flame to produce heat and create pressure. I thought it was interesting, and I was hooked.

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?

Up until high school, I never really knew what I wanted to pursue in. There were so many options and although I did have some idea before entering the 9th grade, I was still waiting to find a subject that I truly enjoyed. During my freshmen year, I finally found that subject – biology.

I lived in student home Verona for four years. My houseparents were Mr. and Mrs. Jester, at Milton Hershey School. I played field hockey for my 7th and 8th grade years of middle school. Someone who helped me when I was at MHS middle school was my sister Jada. She told the advice that I needed to hear when I was down or upset because I was on restrictions or developing. When I struggle in school she told me, “Get your grades up Gia or you are going to do bad in school and I do not want that for you. You’re a smart person and I want you to be successful in life.”

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.

My mother became depressed, my father became disabled, and my brother was skipping school. I continued going to school from eight until four, which was a big relief in my life because it made me forget the hard times. My grades slowly began to decline, as well as my motivation. I gave up many opportunities such as attending New York’s number one specialized high school. I recognized my mistakes and was able to identify my failure. School was not the only place where I lacked interest in because I also slowly started to push my friends away. As a young teenager, I did not think I would ever make it to college. I became frustrated at my parents because my life was ruined and it was all their fault.

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.

However, my junior year also held some troubles for me. In October, my cousin had a stroke and passed away. Visiting her in the hospital and attending her funeral brought back unresolved issues I had from my brother’s death in 2010. I didn't know how to cope, so I fell into a deep depression. I had no energy; it was like my brain wouldn’t let me do anything I used to enjoy. I stopped playing the piano after having played for ten years. I loved to run, but I stopped completely. I didn’t have the energy for either.

I want to end this story on a happy note. I really do. But I dread me going away to college, leaving Inaara in high school. But I dread the idea of me pouring all of my hard work into this essay and only see the minus on my transcript. But I dread the day I'm going to have to confront Andrew, the kid with aspirations to football in college, about playing lineman instead of wide receiver again next season, signifying the fact that our passing in the morning had truly been for nothing. At least the essay I’ve dreaded for so long is now finished.

“You are not college material, look at these grades,” my Mother proclaims as she looks at my recent report card. “Stick with sports kid” my Father, adds. The sad part is, I actually believed them.

I’m Andy Adams a Junior in high school and in early middle college. I clearly don’t have a favorite subject yet, but soon enough. In English class I’m a little rusty on some stuff, but can work through it. I’m very motivated, when there is an assignment I’m on it right away and get done. I do get rusty on test and I still get retakes if I failed miserably and still get on it. I’m very good in English like I get a B previous English classes.

Growing up I was never the kid who talked too much or got in trouble in the classroom for doing so. In my 18 years of living I have never been considered very talkative or vocal. My father would always tell me that talking too much could land you in a big heap of trouble so I refused to do so. He had a phrase, “One thing guaranteed for a person that talks too much is swollen lips”. Hearing that as a child was kind of funny to me, but as I have gotten older I now realize what he was interpreting. I have seen a lot of people get into altercations for running their mouth’s too much and swollen lips is usually the ending result. Although I don’t talk much, I believe I can hold a pretty decent conversation with someone I have things in common with. I use to avoid talking to strangers, but being put in different settings with nothing but strangers has helped me with that to a

That brings me to this year, and it has been nothing short of a blessing. I didn’t do basketball for my senior year, just to get prepared for the vault. I worked out every other day in the winter, letting my body rest in between days and going as hard as possible when I was at the Y. I went two times a week to St. Louis, just to work on everything that I could for this vault season. My passion stemmed from my junior year, and with all the success I had, I just wanted more. I told myself Junior year that I would work as hard as possible over the offseason to get first place at that Illinois College meet. I wanted to show everyone that I could go from dead last my freshman year, all the way to winning the whole thing my senior year.

I have a several reasons of what I would do if I started the school year over. Three of them would be to make better grades, join clubs, and to stop being shy. I choose these three because I think these are my biggest mishandles right now. School is very important to me and myself think that if I achieve my goals I'll make it in life and my career lifestyle. Especially because I am in the Advanced Placement Program and the teachers and the Board of Education expect us to be top notched and to be high on our performance in classes.

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.