Essential Advice by Alyssa

Essential Advice by Alyssa - November 2014 Scholarship Essay

No matter how corny or cliché it sounds, the one piece of advice I would give to an incoming high school freshman is to be true to themselves. Too many high school students worry about popularity and about boys and girls liking them. Our generation is obsessed with the way other people view them. It’s almost as if we care so much about what other people think of us, that we don’t even have a formed opinion about ourselves. Why is it this way? Why are we so concerned with the way others view us? I believe our generation has come to this self-conscious state of mind because of the way media is portraying teenagers. We see on television and on social media how the “popular people” dress and act, and then we walk into our judgmental halls in school and see hundreds of copies of them. I can say these things because I have been there. While it may seem like ages, freshman year was only 3 years ago. I can remember walking into school each day acting and dressing like somebody I was not, just to get the attention of a cute boy, or to impress a challenging teacher.

After being bullied to the point I had to change schools in freshman year, I decided I was going to try something new. As I walked into the lobby of my new school on the first day of sophomore year, I had a new face and outfit on. I was myself. I figured I would stop trying to be something I am not, and just see how it goes. It turns out, people liked me better that way.

I made true friends, the kind that honestly laughed at my jokes, and I wasn’t faking a laugh every time they said something that wasn’t funny just because it was someone “popular” and it might look bad on me if I didn’t. At my new school I embraced my strengths and weaknesses, and I made connections with some great mentors and teachers that I know will continue to motivate me while I am transitioning into my college years. Most importantly, I would tell a freshman that high school years are meant for you to grow up and discover yourself including your likes and dislikes. How can one truly do that if they are pretending to be something they are not?

High school has taught me how to challenge myself academically and it has given me skills that I will be able to use for the rest of my life. I am glad that I had the chance to let go of the person I was pretending to be so I could become the person I want to be. This is what I would tell an incoming high school freshman.