The Goal of Achieving Whatever I Put My Mind To by Abigail

The Goal of Achieving Whatever I Put My Mind To by Abigail - April 2024 Scholarship Essay

Since I was a little girl, I have had big dreams and big goals to match them. When I was 6, I wanted to be the next Pablo Picasso, so, with the help of my parents, we built a giant canvas frame for me to paint my first mural. When I was 7, I wanted to become an archer so I started weekly lessons and eventually my first bow and arrows. The pattern repeated as I continued to grow up and found new passions. From professional soccer player, to a NASA astronaut, to biomedical researcher, I always managed to find something that I was not only passionate about, but also made me excited to learn and grow.
Now, a senior in high school, I have really honed in on my dreams and my goals to get there. As I head into this next phase of life, I am thrilled at just the idea of becoming a performer and an educator. I really started to understand these dreams of mine around my sophomore year, a time where my love for singing started to truly sink in and I knew that it wasn’t going to go away. I have worked incredibly hard to achieve these dreams and set many goals to get there. Goals to improve my voice and technique, achieved by hours of lessons and daily at home practice to continue to grow as a performer. Goals to read and play music better which could only be accomplished through music theory classes and self study, as well as some stubborn determination when things got difficult. Goals to teach my friends and peers music, done through classroom settings, as well as teaching private voice lessons and directing musicals. All of these goals have gotten me to where I am today, a classical singer headed to one of the top music conservatories in the nation, Baldwin Wallace, as well as a dedicated and hard working high school student.
While achieving my music dreams, I have also been incredibly driven in the academic world. My all encompassing goal when it comes to my academics has been to push myself while maintaining balance. When it comes to math for example, I took pre-calculus 1 & 2, a college level course, my sophomore year and it wiped me out. Through hours of study and lots of hard work, I ended both semesters with an A-, but I knew AP Calc was going to kick my butt, so I opted out for Calc 1. While I could’ve been successful in AP Calc, I knew it would’ve come at the risk of my other academics, my time needed to practice music, and my well being. I found the balance required for me to be successful, as well as give me the energy to tackle AP Statistics my senior year. On another note, I found myself being incredibly successful in my Pre-AP English 10 class, so I’ve taken on both AP Lang and AP Lit over the past two years and have left with A’s. Overall, I feel I have accomplished my goals of being challenged academically and it is reflected in my wide variety of academic classes, including 6 AP’s and and 3.96 GPA, but I also feel that it reflects the balance I need to be successful in other aspects of my life too.
Achieving these academic goals has not always been an easy feat. There have been many moments where I bite off more than I can chew, but I have always managed to get through it. I owe much of this to my mother as she has not only been an emotional support system when things get tough, but she also has taught me the skills to navigate through these situations, allowing me to continue to push myself and take on more every day. Sometimes, my worst enemy can be the overwhelming stress that goes on in my mind, and the only thing that helps me stay focused is to step away completely from time to time. While I may have learned the hard way on more than one occasion, I have learned to value turning off the laptop and closing the notebooks so I can go do things that fill me with joy. Even though it sometimes results in a late night filled with homework, life feels so much more achievable when I remember to go grab that coffee with a friend after school or to go paint for a couple hours while watching a comfort movie.
Overall, I think it is clear that I am one with many goals and the passion it takes to achieve them. Applying for scholarships, another goal of mine, is going to help me pursue these dreams as I take on this next stage of life, and I cannot wait to see where it takes me.