Bridging Aspirations and Family Drama: The Impact of My Educational Goal by Aiyanna

Bridging Aspirations and Family Drama: The Impact of My Educational Goal by Aiyanna - August 2024 Scholarship Essay

Much like the value of creating goals, education is an important topic for my family because we understand what it looks like, what it feels like, and what you experience when you have a lack thereof. What I mean by this, is that many members in my family experienced so many life things, so many hardships that they should not have had to experience at an early age, so a lot of them barely finished high school and did not make it as far as completing any level of college education. My parents can attest to this as they struggled through school themselves in a poverty-stricken district, but they persevered to become first-generation college students, and I continue to build the legacy by being a second-generation student. Given this, I was taught from an early age by my parents how important it was that I go to school every day. To not only pursue my education but chase it, and I have so far but I know I still have so much to learn. Thus, my next big educational goal is to improve my GPA to a score above a 3.5.

I remember every time my parents lectured me about the importance of my education. I understand now that they weren’t telling me about how important it was to have an education, but they were also trying to make me understand how truly valuable education was for myself, for my self-worth and my self-confidence. They were trying to tell me that knowledge is power in a world that values wealth over wisdom.

Of course, every goal needs a plan, I will achieve my educational goal by implementing better study habits, such as organizing assignment deadlines and preparing course materials well ahead of time, restricting 2 hours each day for studying, finding quieter locations to study, and creating better notes, quizzes, and study guides for exams. I will also make realistic goals in between these study goals by taking breaks in between studying and feeding myself more nutritional foods for more energy throughout my day. I will improve my time-management so I can prioritize studying above other activities, and I will coordinate with my university to reap the greatest benefits for my study habits.

Despite having so much more left to learn in this life, my education has done so much for me already. Knowing how to speak properly and universally taught me how to communicate my thoughts, my feelings, and most importantly my actions as a young woman of color. Knowing my basic functions in mathematics taught me how to be financially responsible at the tender age of fifteen, and how to accurately calculate things to function in the economic world. My education has also allowed me to grow in many ways I never would have imagined. My education has helped me advocate for myself and others numerous times and it has made me the person I am today.

Most people around me ask me why I stress so much about reaching my educational goals, why I hold myself accountable for not reaching my educational goals, why I’m so hard on myself for meeting them, and why I even set these educational goals in the first place. The answer is that I didn’t set this next big educational goal because I had to just graduate college, no I set these goals because in my mind I know I have to so that I can acquire as much knowledge as possible while I’m still alive. Achieving this next big educational goal is important to me because I know that achieving these goals means I am making my parents proud, I’m breaking generational curses in my family, and most importantly I’m validating all the sacrifices my parents made for me and my education.