Changing With the World Around Me by Alyssa

Changing With the World Around Me by Alyssa - January 2022 Scholarship Essay

In 2021, many factors of my life changed, especially in regard to school. The pandemic uplifted the way students across the country receive their education. All at once, we were forced to clear our lockers and prepare for two weeks of online learning. This was only the beginning, though, and I did not return to in-person school for a year after this initial announcement. This year of learning was the most challenging I have ever experienced. Not being in school and struggling with online learning not only increased my stress, but forced me to cope with my anxieties like never before.

To succeed in my studies, I had to keep up with the times and learn to learn differently. This was extremely hard during my junior year when I was suppose to be meeting with my guidance counselors to start preparing for college. My stress about the future and my preparedness grew and grew with every online class I took. I knew that I was going to be behind come my freshman year of college. As a student who takes school very seriously, I always made sure I was thoroughly prepared for any test or assignment that came my way, but there was no way to do this now.

I knew that I could not let the pandemic way of life or my anxieties get the best of me. In order to do this, I needed to strengthen my own mentality. I developed a way to decrease my stress and to continue to excel in school. I wrote more of my thoughts down on paper, and I committed to using a planner to write down my goals that I needed to accomplish. I found that it was quite easy to forget about assignments or not put in 100% effort on an online setting, so this new way of organizing eased that stress for me. Today, while battling quarantines and a new way of life, I still find myself stressed out sometimes, but finding ways to manage last year helped me tremendously to succeed in school and our new society. In some way, I am grateful for the pandemic for disrupting my way of life because it taught me that I am not always going to be able to control everything.