Living A Life You Will Remember

As a senior at Red Cloud High School, I’m a member of National Honor Society, captain of the cheer squad, lifeguard, swimming instructor, and part-time employee at the local grocery store. I’ve come to learn from a young age that money doesn’t grow on trees. When growing up, it was just my mother and I. While living on her single parent income, I learned money doesn’t grow on trees. My mother worked a minimum wage job, facing financial struggles at times. Her willpower drove her to get the job she has today. My mother married, and I have a little brother now. As his big sister, I always wanted to be someone he could look up to. At the age of fifteen I became a lifeguard at the community pool. The next year I took classes to be a certified Water Safety Instructor, so I could teach swimming lessons to local children. That same year I applied at the local grocery store, to have a job during the school year.

However, junior year of high school changed that: I was given the opportunity to take either AP Psychology, or AP European History. I felt that the obvious choice would be to take AP European History, since I’m European and therefore already had a solid foundation for succeeding in the class, but something inside me told me to take a blind leap of faith and choose AP Psychology instead. This choice proved to be one of the greatest decisions I have made in my life. Through this class, I emerged myself into the world of psychology and fell in love with it. I didn’t complete the assignments to get a good grade. I completed them because I cherished every minute of it, and I started applying the materials learned in class to real life

Ever since I was a young child, my parents always told me to try my best in school, they always told me this for the reason that they never had the opportunity to have a good job because they never finished school. This event is shaping me to care a lot regarding my education. In addition to that, another event that has shaped me to become the person I am today is that since my parents don’t have good paying jobs they have to work hard to take care of me and my siblings this event has caused me to become a hard working person and to seize all opportunities to live a good life because I don’t want to struggle like my parents.

Because I was so focused on getting the help I needed to be successful in college, I was willing to learn the material on my own from the 9th and 10th grade AVID course to join the class as a junior. Before AVID, I did not have a strong passion to learn because I was not engaged in class. However after learning how to take organized notes and to ask in depth questions, I developed a desire to learn new academic concepts. I challenged my learning capabilities by enrolling myself in difficult AP and Honors courses offered at my high school. These classes would also prepare me for studying at the collegiate level.

It is a popular belief that children are bound to the same path that their parents have been down. As a result, being the daughter of two Haitian parents, neither of whom have secondary education, and moved to the United States in the hope of a better life this was a belief placed on me. Throughout my high school career, I have faced obstacles both big and small. One barrier I faced was going into my junior year. Going into my junior year I noticed my dad was home a lot more than usual, but I never questioned it. After a couple of weeks, my mother sat me down and told me he lost his job. At first, when she told me this it didn’t seem like a problem to me. I just thought he would put in more applications get hired and things would turn back

My parent’s struggles taught me to never accept defeat because there are endless possibilities for those who don’t give up. Their perseverance for a better life sparked a sense of determination in me that ignited a fuel for prosperity, and an optimism for bigger and better opportunities not only for me, but for my

I’ve realized that the work in class and outside of class is both challenging and plentiful, especially in Biology111 and my DMA Maths. Its quite difference from high school, where maybe I’d have to turn in something once a week. I had free food and transportation which is something I’ve completely over looked all of these years and even with these useful objects I had, I really didn 't learn much. I know a bit about the holocaust, because it was taught each year in English class, but we did very minimal writing and of course we sometimes had journals but they weren 't grammatically correct. History was like we had to live the same day over and over again just to pass a weekly quiz. I had to scribble so many words on a piece of paper that it soon turned into art class. Actually a lot of my classes turned into art class and I got pretty good at drawing.

Even as my older brothers were failing their classes and disrespecting my parents, I continued to set and achieve my goals while still being a pillar for my family. Even though I didn't have the same opportunities as my peers, I still enrolled and excelled at some of the hardest courses throughout middle school and high school. Even though we have introduced and gave home to two younger boys to our family and have shifted the balance once again, I still managed to maintain an aire of normalcy and maintain my grades. Even with three older siblings who have barely passed high school and one who didn’t finish at all, I am still going to be the first go to college and I do have lofty ambitions which I do plan to accomplish. Even though nobody could probably fathom or understand what I’ve been through, what I’ve seen, what I’ve felt, I am determined to not let that hinder me, and to make a future for myself without

I have waited eight years to be with my father again. I was ten years old when he had to leave. He figured his salary was not sufficient to support our needs. Like any other father, he wanted to be able to provide for his family and give us a decent life. Living in the Philippines, where poverty is a common predicament, moving to a more developed country became the norm for many fathers. He had no other choice but to take the risk and leave us behind as he left in search for work in Hawaii. Growing up, I would ask my father why he had to leave us behind. Why couldn’t he just stay and be with us? I never really got the answer until I was able to experience the opportunities offered in the United States. After eight long years, my father was finally able to take my brother and I here to the United States. However, in this joyful moment, I know we are about to face another obstacle. We had to be away from my mother. I don’t know how long I would be away from her. But, life has to go on. Great opportunities are more accessible here, in the United States and I know I have to make the most out of it.

Within the program I plan to earn a master’s degree and an M.D. While telling others my academic goals, I have been doubted by many and am frequently encouraged to take other routes. I am often told, “Why don’t you become a nurse instead?”, “Are you sure you can become a doctor?”, “Nursing is more of a woman’s job, rather than becoming a doctor.” The doubt and discouragement from my peers, family, and others has only encouraged and motivated me to a greater extent. My father has also played an important influence in my determination to become an Orthopedic Surgeon. He left his family and friends at the age of fourteen and crossed the United States-Mexican border with the little he had. He didn’t speak a word of English nor knew what to expect. He only knew he was coming for the American Dream to help his family and to one day be able to provide his future family with opportunities not accessible to him. Since I can remember, he has always told my siblings and me to go to school and get an education so we wouldn’t have to “break our backs” like he has. My father has gone to work with sprained ligaments, high fevers, shingles, and many other

Since I was a little girl, I always knew I had potential to do great things. I've always been good in school, but not maxed out my full potential. As I got older I learned more about what the "American Dream" is. Too many people say its money, the more money you make the better off you are. I have learned that money isn’t always the answer. The true meaning of the “American Dream is really success and happiness in any thing you do. But how do you really achieve that goal? Now a day’s education is the key to success. When I turned eight teen I made up my mind I was just going to graduate and work. I wasn't interested in college at all. I was tired

Education is something that I have always valued. My passion for learning has only intensified since I was a child. I crave the constant challenge that comes with learning because it’s how I know that I am bettering myself. I have always been a very self-dependant person, and education

See growing up in a large family like mines education was very important. Despite we didn’t have many to graduate from college put a lot of pressure on me. See my grandparents didn’t go to high school or college. So, they were real hard on their kids about go to school and graduate. So, made my parents hard on my brother and me about our education. My brother and me will be the first in our large family to graduate from college. My mom was real hard on me because she didn’t want me to go to in be like her. She had

I have always worked hard since I would like to attend to a four year university next year during the fall. I still remember the day my parents told me that they brought my siblings and me to the United States to see us thrive in college. Their biggest wish is to see me become successful in the future and not have to worry whether I’ll have money tomorrow to feed my kids and the pay rent on time. Their words have truly inspired me to achieve much more than just a high school diploma. They have inspired me to thrive in the workforce whether it is a lawyer, doctor, or even a teacher. I may not have to power to choose where I come from but I do have the power to choose where I go from there. Where I come from doesn’t bring me down in any way, instead it inspires to strive me for

Regina Brett, a 90-year-old woman whose lessons have helped many people, shares some sage advice that everyone wants to hear. She lists 45 lessons for the world and the following are characteristics of those she considers to have a “well-lived” life: when one always remembers that even though life isn’t fair, it is still good; when one wastes no time hating others; when one doesn’t take themselves seriously; when one doesn’t feel the need to win every argument and agrees to disagree; when one starts saving for retirement with the first paycheck; when one makes peace with their past so it won’t ruin the future; when one is able to let others see them cry; when one doesn’t compare their life to others’; when one only has relationships that can