Perfection: My Mistakes That Made Me Who I Am

I was struggling. That much was evident from the pile of papers that surrounded me; unfinished assignments just waiting to be completed. That being the case, there were numerous obstacles I encountered during my earlier years in high school. Between studying for tests, completing homework assignments, and balancing job/after school activities, the only thought on my mind at that time was to challenge stereotypes thrown at me. Being raised in a Mexican household, there were common misconceptions about our race of how we lacked ‘certain abilities’ and I wished to contradict their thoughts. Making my parents proud was the first accomplishment I needed to complete; showing others what I was capable of was an added bonus.

I no longer pressured myself to learn the language, instead I just let it happen. I soon was able to express my thoughts and feelings while speaking in the Spanish language. A class that had once been so frustrating was now a true enjoyment and a strength of mine. I now have the ability to communicate with Spanish speaking natives and no longer worry about a language barrier. I am able to hold a conversation and it allows myself to feel comfortable towards the person I am speaking too. As a result of my improved speech and comprehension of the language as a whole, I was able to shift my focus to the Spanish culture. My junior year in high school marks a clear turning point in my experience within Spanish class. It was during this year that I was able to deepen my understanding and appreciation for the culture and people as a whole. My frustration had blinded me from the artistry that is found within the Spanish culture. I became overwhelmed by the beauty within Spanish poetry, artwork, and architecture that I had failed to witness prior. I became intrigued by the works of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali as well as the architectural wonders within the city of Barcelona. The Spanish language has truly become apart of my life and it allows me to connect with native

Looking back at my early childhood filled with many events and memories, I remember one in particular when my parents taught me my native language, Spanish, by reading books to me any chance they had. Beginning at the age of 8, I would bring home a variety of books from school eager to read them and learn new words. I spent a great amount of time reading that I eventually decided to move into short novels. This helped me improve so much that I never had trouble speaking Spanish. I vividly remember in my small class of 15 students, me speaking Spanish more fluently than any of my other classmates. Proud would be an understatement. This soon changed when I began second grade in the fall of 2006 with Ms. Magaña.

During high school, I put lots of effort into learning Spanish. I took three years of Spanish in high school, then stopped and began pursuing it on my own, studying books, participating in Spanish - English language exchanges with native speakers and even practicing with the line cooks in the restaurant I would work in every summer. Slowly, I became more and more proficient. Half the Latinos I talk to tell me my Spanish is perfect,

Comparison will steal your joy. Right now, I see many traits in you that I see in myself. Perfectionism is something I see in both of us. I used to think these traits could be a great tool when you work, but then I read The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown and she stated, “Perfectionism is self-destructive simply because there is no such thing as perfect. Perfection is an unattainable goal” (pg. 57). Bug-a-boo, I know this isn’t something that you want to hear, but she is right. There is no such thing as being perfect. As I see you struggle as a nine-year-old to perfectly read that chapter book or make all of the kids like you at school, I just want to hug you and tell you that you are and always have been enough. I once heard in a song, “You’ll always measure up if you compare yourself to you”. You are the only person you need to focus on. I don’t mean the ideal “perfect daughter, sister, friend, student” portrait you try to paint yourself to be. I’m talking about the beautiful girl who loves to dance down the hallway, the girl who leaves her school work scattered around the house, the girl who struggles, the girl who is human. Additionally, keep in mind, comparing yourself to others robs you of the potential YOU were given. And trust me, that potential is

I believe that I have done some sort of good at small scales. I have helped friends with assignments, remained respectful and completed my work on time. Out of having any passion in the school, most people know me to be the person who loves spanish class. I have been involved in the International Club since freshman year, my first year I did not participate much because I was shy but I stuck with it every year since then and have recently held a leadership position. Although I have never been great with spanish, I stuck with it despite feeling uncomfortable dancing or singing. In addition to these stresses, my membership in t the spanish honor society was beneficial to our community during the summer where me and a few other

When I attend school for the very first time, I was the only Karen kid in the school. I didn’t know how to communicate with classmates and my teachers, which made it really difficult for me and I was very frustrated. At the same time, it scared me to death and sometimes I even thought about quitting school. I felt relive and very lucky that I had a kind and loving teacher who helped me out with my English. For example, every day when I went to school, my teacher would come talk to me, interacted with me, and asked me to read a story with her, which helped me a lot with improving my English skills such as reading, listening, speaking, and writing. I also used my speaking skill to communicate with my friends. Yet, everything took time even though it took me so many years to learn English, but what I learned from this difficulty was that, all obstacles come for a reason. They either come to destroy you or help you improve and make you a strong person. The lesson that I learned from my first hardship is to never give up and always try my best. I believe that everything is possible if I try

I felt at ease because every time someone comes to me speaking Spanish, I have the tendency to feel ashamed or embarrassed. Next year came along, sophomore year and again i'm in the same predicament, a non-Spanish speaker. Towards the end of my first class, the teacher gives us an assignment to do for the remainder of the time.

Any form of expression can deploy one’s philosophy; occasionally, it can exert an individual’s identity. Nonetheless, when I attempt to demonstrate my beliefs, it may fluctuate from stable to utter humiliation. However, what could I actually do? My childhood consisted of one component: egotistical confidence. From enhancing my writing and vocabulary to excelling my confidence in speech abilities, every aspect appeared “pristinely clear” as I used to state. However, my self-confidence can barely fade from my identity; it can never dissipate if I assume my audience are partially illiterate or basically a mirror of my “perfection”. Trust in my own peers was an outlandish concept I rarely integrated into my system. In turn, unfortunately, my narcissistic

To continue, I want to elaborate on perfection. While I do strive for perfection, I understand there is no such thing as perfection in life. It took me so long to accept that. When I was in second grade, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. This diagnosis came as a shock to my family. My mother was twenty-seven years old. I was young at the time; however, I remember the struggles she

A con of always striving for perfection is that I miss out on social opportunities. There are many times that I spend a time studying for a math test and I miss going out with friends. When my parents ask me how many points I will go up for each hour I study, sometimes I respond that I will only go up a few points; however,

“Perfect.” It seems like such an innocent word. As a label, it could even be considered complimentary. But in my opinion, you don’t know perfect until you’ve lived it. Hello, I’m Kaitlyn Zander (but please, call me Kate), captain of the soccer team, president of the math honor society, senior class officer, youth soccer coach, lifeguard, 4.0 GPA, 35 on the ACT, science bowl captain, youth retreat leader…you get the point. In terms of high school students or even college applicants, I could easily be labeled “perfect.” Which, of course, is exactly what I’m supposed to be proving to you. But ultimately, perfection is unattainable, and trying to live up to truly being “perfect” is far too hard. So I’m not going to try to convince you that I’m the perfect student, or the perfect candidate for this scholarship. Instead, I’m going to show you that I’m a really good choice, with a lot of room to grow and a huge desire to obtain as much knowledge as possible.

I had a teacher who would not stop her constant lessons on confidence. Every day she would pick on me to talk even though she knew how much I hated it. Mrs. Cortez would spend time pushing me to try new things and join different clubs. Mrs. Cortez inspired me to seek change. One day, she finally convinced me join mariachi to build my social skills and learn to cooperate with fellow students. I was in mariachi and it made me feel great about myself. In mariachi I was able to play and demonstrate my skills, which gave me the boost of confidence that I needed. She also helped me to develop some speaking skills. She pushed me to learn that being able to speak up and use my voice was the greatest strength I

It was challenging for me to create new friendships when I wasn’t able to maintain a conversation that followed after the conventional introduction. Even when I attempted to practice my English with my classmates, they laughed at all the times that I mispronounced a word, which happened frequently. They referred to me as “the kid who didn’t know how to speak English”, which provoked them to develop a perception that I was incompetent and unintelligent. As the school year proceeded, my classmates increased their distance from me, which generated this feeling of being like an archaic painting pinned against the wall that goes unnoticed. During group projects in class, it became a routine to be the person who constantly ended up without a group, so I would always end up with the same partner; my teacher. During lunchtime, my classmates always cut in front of me, and consequently I was the last person to get lunch, so that there were no more seats at the class table and I was forced to sit on my own. For a young boy, feeling like no one wanted to interact with me as a result of speaking a different language and wearing different clothes impacted the way that I perceived myself. In retrospect, I began to become oblivious to the discrimination that my classmates had against me, and I eventually reached the point of feeling like I deserved it; that is the danger of social injustice. The danger of social injustice is that as it constantly it happens all around us, it has transformed into a norm. That is what happened to me; I got used to being excluded, it became

As quoted from my reading it states, “Kids all over the world are under tremendous pressure to be perfect.” It seems as if the only way these people thought they would ever get into college is portraying themselves as perfect people or perfect beings. I feel this is a thought from parents and teachers planted into kids’ heads because of what others’ personally believe.