Personal Narrative: Courage To Grow

I believe I should be awarded the Courage To Grow Scholarship for many more reasons than one. To begin with, I am a smart, determined young lady with an ambition to succeed. To me, most setbacks lead to major comebacks, and during downfalls I make it a priority to continue to fight towards whatever goal it is that I have set for myself. Being that I am a hard working individual, I go the extra mile to get any and every goal I have set accomplished. I always find myself setting new goals to make bigger accomplishments because I prefer the thrill of overcoming challenges that your average person would give in to. In addition, I believe I should be awarded this scholarship because I am an African American girl who wants a fair chance of pursuing

I strongly believe that I deserve the “Courage to Grow” Scholarship, because not only am I a dedicated and hardworking growing young adult, but I also incorporate those traits to what I value the most, school. Ever since I started school, I have worked hard to where I am now. I have a 3.8 G.P.A. On a 4.0 scale which I have worked long nights for. Since throughout all of high school I have been, an still am, involved in many extracurriculars such as DECA, Interact Club, Spanish Honor Society but also managed to be involved in sports as well like Indoor Track and Field, Outdoor Track and Field and Cheerleading. Being a top, varsity athlete in all, has taught me many valuable traits which have helped also become a wonderful young adult.

Imagine being at the peak of your high school career, personally, academically, and athletically. For me, that was my sophomore year. I was selected to be on the homecoming court, I won a free class ring, and a free corsage and boutonniere for prom. I was on my way to a 4.0 grade point average. I was pulled up to Varsity basketball, I became the 100 meter hurdle regional champion, and I qualified for two events at the Division 4 State meet for track and field. In one split second, a clip of a hurdle, that was over. My first race of the day was the preliminary 100 meter hurdles. Once the race started, I was calm, focused, and determined. I was starting to make my way up to the front of the pack when I clipped my trail leg on the eighth hurdle.

Growing up with a father in the military, you move around a lot more than you would like to. I was born just east of St. Louis in a city called Shiloh in Illinois. When I was two years old my dad got the assignment to move to Hawaii. We spent seven great years in Hawaii, we had one of the greatest churches I have ever been to name New Hope. New Hope was a lot like Olivet's atmosphere, the people were always friendly and there always something to keep someone busy. I used to dance at church, I did hip-hop and interpretive dance, but you could never tell that from the way I look now.

Hi iam Edgardo Flores i was born in casa grande, az not that far away from our state capital,Phoenix, Az.theres nothing better to do in a hot summer than going out with the friends to a lake and have a blast riding jet skis boats and my favorite, swimming!My activites of the day are shooting,riding horses,and my favorite one is quad riding.Thats right! ive been doing these fun exciting hobbies since i was 9 years old.pretty young huh?

It was a typical Sunday morning, I ate breakfast with my family and got ready for church. The morning went on with a drag, than 5 o’clock hit. Once 5 o’clock hit my mother started yelling at my sister and me to get our stuff packed and into the car. We had only a few hours before my final summer of upward bound started. Since I started my senior year I’d been remembering many moments of my past and been reflecting on them. Therefore as I began to pack, it didn’t seem strange to me as I started to flash back to what had gotten me into Upward Bound in the first place.

My life began in privilege. From magnificent dollhouses, professional family Christmas pictures, and white picket fences, it all seemed so simple. Five-year-old me did not understand for the longest time what adversity was and how it would ever affect me. Twelve years later, I’ve come to realize that the adversity in my life has created diversity within me.

Walking away from everything you once knew and starting over is never a picnic. Leaving Iraq, and moving to America has impacted my life more than anything. I was only 4 years old at that time, and the only English I spoke was “excuse me, water please.” My family and I did not know it then, but our lives were going to change; we would become “Americanized”. Learning English was one of the massive changes that occurred, the way I dressed (culture), and even the way I had power to go to school and educate myself.

Prior to undergraduate and graduate school, the repercussions of academic misconduct were not a deterrent to me. The consequences of plagiarizing were not clear and concise in High School. I was a poor, intelligent kid living in an environment where fashion and economic class established one’s social status. I wanted to fit in. I was so obsessed with fitting in, that I used my academic gifts to promote academic misconduct. My peers had academic weakness. Theses weakness’ included, lack of confidence in their work, lack of preparation and lack of motivation. I exploited the areas of weakness of my peers for my personal gain.

Home is the beginning of one’s book. It is where your story begins, forms its characters, shows its purpose, and reveals its ora. This is how mine is written. Home is on the buzzing highway down a bumpy gravel road. It’s Brandon, Mississippi. It is the only home I’ve ever known. Home is the smell of homemade biscuits and tomato gravy on Saturday mornings. It is “Bless Your Heart” and “Yes Mam” and “No Sir”. The little bedroom in the back of a grey double-wide where Carrie Underwood songs played and where I learned to curl my hair and put on mascara. My cousins and I running around with mason jars, chasing the lightning bugs. Bar-B-q on the back porch and never meeting a stranger. It is the morals learned and the identity

Thomas Edison, the man who is credited with inventing the lightbulb, once said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” If Thomas Edison had given up after the first attempt had gone downhill, mankind would have been left in the dark. Luckily, this headstrong inventor refused to abandon his idea. Like Thomas Edison, I refuse to give up, especially when it comes to dance.

I am a first generation child to have been born in my family, the first generation who is about to graduate high school and the first generation to go to a college and succeed in life.

When I think of the word “adversity,” three things come to mind, the words: difficulty, challenge, and perseverance. These come to mind because adversity is definitely difficult and it is surely a challenge, but, if you persevere, you can overcome all adversity.

1D. Since I was a guy and It was a little harder for me to get along with them because at that age other boys were trying to be better than each other and since I couldn’t do something they thought they were better than me. When it came to the girls, they really didn’t wanted to hang out with the boys so many of them didn’t really talk to me. The girl that supposed to help me only help me because they told her to do it and since I was a guy she was kind of shy to talk to me.

In my 38 years of life, I’ve had to overcome plenty of obstacles. When examining my life, especially in my younger years, it showed me life consists of an assortment of minor and major obstacles. Facing an obstacle, especially a major one, and conquering it, awards me a triumphant feeling. Furthermore, this feeling did provide me with determination, willpower, and courage to take on any future obstacles that life can throw at me (Harrington, 2012). This makes minor obstacles to become like a cake walk.