Faith and Effort Can Build a Skyscraper by Alyssa

Faith and Effort Can Build a Skyscraper by Alyssa - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

“Why limit yourself?” are the famous words that hang just above the benches of Merlo Square, a portion of my elementary school grounds dedicated to my middle school teacher, academic coach, and second mom who passed away last November. While I can credit this wonderful soul for hundreds of lessons I have learned in the past six years I had known her, like the formal uses of dining utensils and how to solve mixture problems, the most important lesson she had ever taught me lies in a seemingly simple conversation we had long ago. In that one conversation, she revealed to me that faith and effort are the building blocks to a solid skyscraper. When they are put together, the world suddenly becomes a place of limitless opportunities to build my skyscraper.
It was the night of state competition for Science Olympiad. We were the underdog team, the newbies, and the least likely to win a spot to nationals, if we were to even win anything at all. We spent the entire day studying, practicing, fixing, and praying that somehow we would walk away with something to make our school proud. As I sat in the hotel room I would be sharing with my teacher, a circumstance purely by chance yet a blessing in disguise, I started to shake with nervousness. That is when she came over and pulled me into a tight side hug. With her caring, motherly voice, she said to me, “Someday, kiddo, I’m going to see a skyscraper with your name on it because I know that when you put in your best effort, you can and will amount to the most amazing things.” While it might not be noticeable in that single line, she gave me the two characteristics I needed to understand in order to go out into the world and build my “skyscraper.” The first half of the lesson was unintentional, and it was embedded in the way she believed in me. Her strong belief in my abilities taught me that faith in itself has power not only to ease a nervous mind but also to push one to strive harder. The next half, which she not only said that night but throughout the years I studied under her, would have to come from me, and that was effort. In order to achieve the goals I set for myself, I realized a great deal of hard work and effort would have to be put into the tasks before me. Faith coupled with effort is a combination for success, and I would really come to learn this after earning a medal at state competition with her strong faith and my best efforts. Without effort, faith alone can do nothing. Believing hard enough without acting will not make something happen. Without faith, effort is not at its best potential. Never underestimate how badly doubt can affect one’s abilities and mindset. Faith from other people or in one’s self has a profound effect on how hard one works and can even be the cause of the biggest strives made to reach one’s goals.
As clichéd as it might seem, the most important thing she ever taught me was to believe in myself and work hard for the things I want. Even though it is a common lesson, there is a vast difference between hearing it and learning it. I may have heard it a thousand times before, but I have only learned this lesson once. And from her, once was enough. Mrs. Merlo may never be able to see the skyscraper I build. Yet, when the rest of the world does, it will be because she taught me that faith and effort go hand in hand.