College Admissions Essay: My Junior Year Of High School

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.

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

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.

When people tell you that high school would be the best time of your life, you don’t really understand the magnitude of what they’re saying until your time is coming to an end. A lot of people say that you “find yourself” in college. I, however, had the advantage of finding myself in high school. These past six years have been awesome, and I really mean it. I know it might not seem believable for a high school student to enjoy school, but I’m not lying about this stuff. I felt this way even before there was a scholarship to apply for. My mom taught me from a young age to enjoy going to school, and as much stress as it might have caused me over the years, I still loved every second of it. It’s easy to focus on the undesirable parts like sleep

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 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?

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 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.

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.

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.

High school has been an experience to say the least. I’ve spent the last four years at Father Ryan attempting to find myself and my place in the world, much like puzzle piece. A puzzle has many pieces that contribute to an entire image when properly placed among each other. High school is similar to this idea because throughout the past four years I have constantly been trying to find my perfect fit and where I belong. When I was a Freshmen I molded my personality to fit anywhere just to have friends. Then when sophomore year began I realized how much of myself I was sacrificing to fit into the wrong place. Once junior year arrived I was getting closer to my perfect fit and now that it is senior year I’ve finally found my fit in the big puzzle called high school.