Learning to Show Up by Abigail

Learning to Show Up by Abigail - December 2022 Scholarship Essay

There are important years in school, and then there are what I call “transition years.” For example, in third grade you learn how to do multiplication and division and take your first-ever standardized test. This is an important year. In fourth grade, you spend most of your time recapping what you learned in third grade and preparing for fifth grade. This is a transition year.
In the beginning of 2022, I was a junior in high school. This is an Important Year. Capital letters, bold and underlined. This may be the most important school year there is. I took the PSAT, the SAT, and the ACT, finished up my core classes, and managed to juggle sports on top of that. I never expected my high school years to be easy, but I don't know if I was quite prepared for my junior year. Although challenging, my junior year was certainly the most educational year I have had- and I don't just mean concerning academics.
Being an upperclassman in high school is a change of pace. As a member of the marching band, I was suddenly in charge of a bunch of younger children. I assisted my section leader by taking responsibility for the new freshmen marchers. I have never been more aware of the age difference of three years than when I was leading around a group of fourteen-year-old trumpets. Teaching the new kids how to march, memorize music, and integrate into the band taught me patience and tact.
I started working out in 2022. I have always been an active child because I come from an active family. As I mentioned before, I am in a marching band. I am also a swimmer on my neighborhood team and for my school. However, my strength has always been limited because of my disabilities. In seventh grade, I was diagnosed with hypermobility, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and dysautonomia. These conditions cause my progress to often be slow and inconsistent. In 2022, I started to take working out more seriously and started lifting weights. This has taught me persistence and consistency. The most important lesson that I have learned from working out is that motivation is temporary. To make real progress, you can not rely on motivation. You must rely on discipline and make an effort to show up for yourself every day.
Sometimes, growth is not represented through extra effort. Another lesson that I learned this year is that it is important to look out for and care for yourself. Learning to say no to others in a polite but firm way has been healing. During 2022, I made it a point to challenge old habits and start putting more emphasis on my needs and wants. I have since stopped doing hours of homework and instead have created a healthy school and life balance.
Every single experience, good or bad, has a lesson embedded into it. It is important to not be a bystander in your own life and to extrapolate a lesson from everything you go through. 2022 has taught me that you must be an active participant in your experiences. I never again want to perceive one of my years of life as “transitional.” My goals for 2023 will be to continue the new things that I have started. I want to continue developing patience, love, care, and tenderness with those around me. I want to increase my self-discipline and continue to commit to everything that I say I will do. I want to keep the same intensity and focus that I had through 2022. I refuse to let up any pressure and am excited to see what this new year brings.