College Admissions Essay: Why I Have A Voice

All person only needs is twenty seconds of insane courage to change your life. Three years ago, I was terrified to join the Howell Teen Advisory Board, but after the twenty seconds that I stepped into the room and took a seat my life was destined to change. I am thankful that I took those courageous steps, as they have made me a dedicated advocate, leader, and philanthropist.

My opinions and beliefs affect me directly. They are constantly changing, which means I am constantly changing. They affect my mood and the way I think. For example, in a matter of a few short months my opinion on something could change entirely. It is only natural, I am a teenager. My outlook on the world depends on my voice. It is a part of my identity and without one, I wouldn’t know who I would be. My voice is a key to the world of my interests, passions, beliefs and thoughts. It is a key to myself.

It’s a weird feeling being compared to your seven-year-old sister. It’s an even weirder feeling when you’re being compared because she can run five times as long as you can.

When thinking about Colleges there are many factors to consider. Location, Type of degree offered, price, size, and many more. Where you rank these factors by how much each matter it makes it much easier to decide. There are not many people in the world that have the exact same interests which is why there are many colleges that are fits for certain people and their interests. I have looked at my interests and types of colleges that would be great for me, and I have decided the the University of North Alabama would be a perfect fit. I would like to attend The University of North Alabama for economic reasons, the nursing program, location, and because I would fit in well with the students and staff.

Education is one of the many things I am willing to fight for. I believe in everyone getting an education and succeeding in becoming who they want to become. The future many people wish for is based upon the education that they receive. I believe that everyone in the world deserves education, wherever they may be. Education should be a free thing that people can receive without anyone going up against them for just wanting to be educated.

I’m not smart. I won’t make it anywhere. I’m confused- was all I could think when thinking about my future. People kept telling me what to do or when I had a career in mind, apparently it wasn’t suited for me. This made me feel like I couldn’t do anything because I couldn’t see a future for myself.

I couldn't move as I was petrified by fear; stage fright was my Medusa. Fear was a loyal companion one Saturday morning at the Methodist church where a speech competition was being held. Several competitors had gone before me and now my turn had come to deliver what felt like my last words on this earth. If only my legs had gotten the memo.

Thank you very much for awarding the Han Hartjens Scholarship and the Arlo Richardson Endowed Scholarship. Your kindness and generosity will definitely make it easier for me to attend Barrett. You have played a significant role in my education and I could never fully tell you just how much I truly appreciate you. Because of you, I will have more time to invest in my education and will not have to work as hard to pay off my tuition. My goal is to graduate without any debt, and you have made this goal much more attainable.

I grew up in a house located in a city named Hallandale, a not so quite poverty-stricken African-American dominated neighborhood of South Florida. Everyday news reports of someone either dying, getting shot, or arrested from the neighborhood appeared on my front screen. I lived in a one story house with only three bedrooms and ten of my family members. I always considered my home as the most beautiful house on the block — a heavenly oasis in a cesspool of dilapidation. You knew my house because my grandmother had a lion on the outside of it that stood through every storm Florida threw its way. To me that lion represented the courage and strength of people in my neighborhood held despite the hard ships surrounding it. Every Sunday my grandma cooked for those in need.

We have the freedom to do what we want, be right or wrong. I believe in doing the right thing. It gives a certain feeling of achievement, to have the courage to stand up against all evil and defeat it. This is why we have our heroes.

What are you most grateful for? Most teens nowadays don’t thing about what they have been given just what they don’t have. The thing I am most grateful for is my parents who raised me to independent and prepared for life, gave me amazing opportunities for college, allowed me to go on adventures with friends, and let me follow my own path in life even if it changed.

The roles of reason is for us to make sense out of things, for us to apply logic and information, to state and verify facts, justify our own beliefs, for others to understand us, to improve knowledge, to make better decisions, for us to have a wide range of evidence, it draws conclusion and to have a basis and a cause. While the roles of experience is for us to learn from the things in the past, for us to share the things we know to others, for others to have idea, to change someone’s perspective in life in a good and right way, for us to know better, to share our observation of facts or events and to gain a lot of lessons to apply to ourselves.

I believe I should be the recipient of this scholarship because of my role on the tennis team in years prior and in this particular year as one of the captains. My favorite part about going to practice every day was having the opportunity to lead and teach my fellow teammates and underclassmen. I always encouraged the girls to ask me for assists whenever they needed it and to never feel nervous to reach out if they wanted to get some extra practice on the weekend. One memory I have is with one of my teammates asked if I could help them during the summer before preseason began; they wanted to work on their backhand, so I accepted. Even though we were boiling under the sun, when she finally nailed the stroke we were both ecstatic and that feeling

The high school years could be memorable for many students, but very challenging for others. Especially for those of us that struggled to get involved in social activities, making new connections and working with others. I remember one instance that will stay with me forever. It was during my Government class in my 10th-grade year. My teacher Mrs. Gwen wanted the class to split up into groups. Everybody hurried so they can select the best partners and secure the best grade. As usually, I procrastinated with indecisions as to who can I pair with. Before I knew it, there was my group. The leftovers who like me did not know where to go or even how to get started in our assignment.

I am not a public speaker; is not for everyone. But I believe I have finally found my voice, regardless of whether it is verbal or written.