As I sat in class that day and received the “A” honor roll certificate with my name on it, my view on life suddenly changed. I realized that while others could mosey along and just get by, that was not what I needed to do. Failure was not an option, I would settle for nothing less that success, and college was the goal I was setting for myself even with the many struggles that were going to come with it. Nothing inspires success more than the feeling of failure. I never quite understood what “I felt my stomach drop” meant until I received my first failing grade. I had studied so hard for that test and I still failed.
I pondered on that failing grade for several days, and I just couldn’t quite let it go. When I saw the other students in my class had failed also, it just did not even seem to upset them. They acted as if they could care less about a passing grade. I know what was going through their head though, “oh this is just high school”. Receiving that failing grade made me realize that I needed to apply success in everything in my life. Even if it was “only high school”, I was not going to fail any more. If I had a careless attitude about failure in high school I was more than likely going to have a careless attitude in other aspects of my life.
While failure is a trap that’s easy to fall into, I know that success would be worth working for. Studying was going to be the key to accomplishing many things in my life. I needed to get used to studying because that was going to be the way to success for the rest of high school, and then on to college. While all of the other teenagers in my class were over there talking about the party from last night, that was never really my cup of tea. I had figured out early that I cared way too much about my future to go try to impress someone at a party.
I played all of the sports in high school, so I went to school at 8 a. m. and usually didn’t get home until eleven or twelve on Tuesday and Friday nights, and 6 p. m. on any other night of the week. So when I got home all I wanted to do was just go to sleep, but nope I had to do my homework for the next day. It was definitely not what I wanted to be doing late at night but I needed to so I could be successful. Had I not learned to prioritize, I am not sure I would even be going to college. Making it to college is one step closer to success for me.
I am the first of my family to apply and go to college. It was also not easy like it was for everyone else to get to college. I had no clue as to what to do to apply, my parents had no clue, so I had to learn from what all of my friends were doing and reach out to other family members for help. My goal is to be successful, and strive for the best in everything I do. I have reached my goal of being the first to make it to college, and I will be the first the graduate. I am not going to let failure get in my way, I am settling for nothing less than success, and I am reaching my goals one step at a time.
