I Have A Better Life For Myself

Nine years ago, I never could have imagined I’d be writing this essay. I was a senior in high school, and, like the rest of my classmates, I was apprehensive about the future. Unlike my classmates, I felt like I had missed the proverbial “you need to get your life together” message. I watched my classmates apply to colleges, their majors already decided and their future careers mapped out. While I was an above average student, I felt I lacked the decisiveness my classmates seemed to have. I did not feel passionate about a career or even a field of study. I felt defective. This was compounded by the financial strain I knew attending college would have on my family. It seemed wasteful to try to “find my passion” at school while squandering

I knew when I started college I would get home sick sometimes, so I did not want to be so far that I would have to just stay on campus. Being homesick is what makes a lot of college student’s drop out and sometimes even their parents encourage them to go home. I did not want to stop chasing my dreams because I would be homesick. I have a couple of family members that dropped out of college because they felt that they were alone and thought they needed their family to survive. I try not to go home every weekend because I know those are the hardest goodbyes to me because I love my family so much. I know that doing all of this work and having God on my side will bring me

After barely graduating in the spring of 2017 from Lopez Early College High School, I went straight to my parent’s house not knowing exactly what I was going to do with my life. I knew I had ruined my life after not paying attention to my teachers and counselors about applying to colleges. They said I was a wonderful and intelligent student with a tremendous capacity of succeeding in life. Although everybody thought that about me, I never did. I was constantly under pressure thinking that I had to work in order to support my family economically, so our house was saved. I was also worried about whether my parents were getting divorced after every insignificant argument they had. I had to be an excellent example for my two younger siblings; but even though I tried my best, I never was.

Education is the main goal of college. I had always considered myself a person dedicated to the pursuit of more knowledge and a better education. My mother, being a teacher, had instilled these values in me. When I was in elementary, I tested into a gifted center and from there I tested into selective enrollment college prep. The obvious next step seemed to be college. Looking the scholarship given to me, it just didn’t seem to add up. I had scored a 32 on the ACT but my scholarship was barely covering half of my expenses. But I knew if a just gave up, the meant giving up on everything that I believe in. By pursing college I was able to be challenged, pursue subjects which interested me and discover new pathways that I was interested such as African American studies. Without taking that chance, I may have never received that knowledge.

Attending college has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. It has opened up many doors and options in my life. Not only am I the first in my family to graduate high school, but I am also the first to go to college. My parents come from third world countries and traveled all the way to the United States so that my younger brother and I could have a better chance at life. My biggest motivator is my family; they are the reason why I work so hard.

Through many life obstacles I was not very fortunate or goal driven to attempt to go to college after high school. Grew up in a military family so my family was stricter about keeping their children

College has always been an option for me, my whole life I have always had a goal to go to college and become something of myself. Senior year has been my most challenging year for me. I was at a point in my life where I didn’t believe that I was going to graduate. I became stressed and stop trying for a while. Ms. Walkenhorst has always been a great influence on me, when no one else was there, she was. When I felt like I was falling and wasn’t

My mind was racing with thoughts about how I hated my major and never wanted to study history in the first place, how I didn’t feel I was smart enough for the school or scholarships I had earned and how I just really wanted to leave and go back to Holland because I did not love the school I thought I loved. The next day I met my mom at Aquinas College and after even more tears I explained how I wanted to drop out. After filling out paperwork and packing my things I left with my mom to Holland feeling like a failure because I dropped out of college not even forty- eight hours after moving in. When we got home my mom made a big dinner to cheer me up and said these words that still give me so much hope, “Today is the start of your new life”. After that day I truly began my new life, since I had so much time on my hands I started volunteering at Herrick District Library, a place that I have always loved, once a week, began learning how to drive and found a major that I am truly passionate about. Ultimately, I started doing what made me happy and it has turned a situation that looked sad, confusing and hopeless into a land of new

College!? Yeah you may get scared when you hear that word. I know I did, but now that I got to see a very important person in my life, a leader, my hero, and also my favorite cousin go away to Iowa on a full ride scholarship makes me very convivial to try and get into a good college and leave out of state to study. I want to follow his footsteps to a great career, achieve all the goals I have set for myself. It was one of the hardest times of my life, but I became stronger and knew it was all for the best. I’m just so proud that he gets to do what makes him happy, and get away from California, and begin studying for the most important things in life. He’s been the biggest influence on me my whole life seeing him achieve his goals pushes me more and more to do the same.

As a result of several motivational purposes, there are many driving factors to go to college that can and will impact one’s life. Before going to college, I waited 2 ½ years after I graduated high school to finally make my decision to go to college. The reason it took me so long is that I did not know what I wanted to do with my life. First, I wanted to be a probation officer, then I changed my mind to be an OBGYN, then finally I made the decision to become a nurse. I know I have a long road of schooling ahead of me, but that is okay. I have wonderful people in my life that encourage me to continue my studies. Going to college is important since it can open many opportunities to get into a better career field, it is a fun experience, and it can also start a tradition in my family.

Out of high school I went off to college with a plan. I was so naïve, I had my life all planned out. I was going to a state school study accounting to become a CPA, where I would go to work every day, sit in an office and take home a decent paycheck. Halfway through my degree I realized something was missing, passion of what I was doing. To be completely honest I gave up, I stopped caring and my grades were horrible, in the course of a year I had gone from an A student to a C student. My family was adamant about me staying in school, and sticking it out another semester. I agreed to try but eventually stopped going to class, I should have been dropped from my classes but the university I attended was so large that with 400 plus students to a lecture no one noticed or cared. I dropped out of college, had I not made the decision to continue they would have dismissed me anyway. The grades I received my last year at SUNY Albany do not reflect my academic ability. I regret giving up, I realize now that there were alternate routes I could have taken. However I am one of those

“ Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalms 27:14” A verse that has helped me stay driven and passionate throughout the years of discovering my desire to further my education. During grade school and up to high school, I always struggled in my academics and that turned into a lack of motivation. I recall taking college courses that did not fall into a plan of pursuing a degree. All I wanted was to take fun classes such as drumming and water polo and did not take the opportunity of taking college serious. I was young and uncertain of what I wanted to pursue. In addition to discovering myself through college I also was a partner of business that I had to manage at the age of 19. Even though it was a lot of responsibility I was ambitious because at the time I had finally found something that I enjoyed doing and I was happy. However, that did not last very long because after years of attempting to run a business it did not succeed as anticipated so I decided to leave my business and pursued other endeavors. I continued working and still took courses that was leading to a certificate in graphic design because I knew that I was good at it even thought it was no longer a passion of mine. I decided to take a break from college and continued to work but at times my family would always ask if I would ever finish college. I remember thinking at that time I did not have a desire to pursue anything and wanted to be left

I had dreams and the only way I knew how to live out my dreams was through education. Although I fell into temptation as an adolescent, I never stopped attending school. During the end of my freshman year I found out I was having a baby girl. I knew I had to succeed more than ever, just to prove to her there is a way out of poverty. I had very little to offer her, so I was a single mother on welfare. I had many sleepless nights and moments that I just wanted to give up, but I pulled through and was able to attend East

Every day in my life I face difficulties that make me question my life from school, to my love life, to the friendships I have in my life. The difficulty of school usually ranges from me thinking, did I make the right choice on going to college or should I have just started working full time right out of high school. I question my education so much because of the burden I feel I am placing on myself and mother with college expenses such as tuition, transportation, and basic essential needs. I usually begin to disassemble these thoughts by thinking it will all be

A lot of people would always look back at their childhood and say, "Wow! Those were good times." To me, it wasn't. I was easy to get picked on as I was chubby and I am unable to speak Bahasa Indonesia fluently. In my elementary school, I began to get a lot of hatred from my classmates as they would speak behind my back. I began to hate humanity and began to develop depression over the years. As I was always being picked on, I was unable to create any friends until I moved to Malaysia. When I moved to Malaysia, I had a mindset of: "There is no point of making any friends." This all changed once I met Chan Young Jeon, or as known as CY. Despite my traumatizing childhood, CY helped me experience a better life with his compassion, diligence, and creativity.