Good Enough by Amanda

Good Enough by Amanda - November 2018 Scholarship Essay

Senior quotes can be cliché, comedic, or inspirational, and most high school students joke about what theirs should be throughout their four years before having to choose one. It’s meant to be one last way to be remembered by your peers, but nobody warns you about how hard it is to actually choose yours! After putting it until a few days before the deadline, I was talking casually with my dad and he jokingly said to me “you don’t need to go for perfection, just shoot for good enough.” The next day in class I impulsively submitted it as my senior quote- the final words of wisdom for all of my friends and classmates that I would be leaving soon.
I went into high school with the mindset that I would only be successful if I scored a perfect 36 on my ACT, got a full ride scholarship to college, graduated first in my class, was the class president, and had dozens of popular friends. I figured that since those are all possibilities, I should be capable and almost entitled to having that if I want it enough. Because of that, I spent my freshman and sophomore years forcing myself to do more than I was able to handle, and all I got out of it was a whole lot of emotional stress. That summer I decided I was done with trying to be perfect in every possible aspect, because nobody can be, and it was draining the happiness out of my life because I could never simply enjoy my life without being critical. It seems counter-intuitive because normally the goal is to inspire people to reach for their dreams, to power through adversity, and to approach challenges with the mentality that anything is possible, however there was something about realizing that it’s okay to take second place once in a while that helped me to make peace with myself.
I stopped over-analyzing my every decision and started doing only what made me happy. I still am an incredibly competitive person who loves to be involved, and I am still achieving great things, the difference is how I live my life outside of that. I never stopped caring about being successful, I graduated a straight-A student, was Salutatorian, spoke at our graduating ceremony in front of a few thousand people (which I took much more seriously), and have always been an incredibly competitive person who will strive to be as close to perfect as I can be, but my definition of success changed.
I didn’t want just another inspiring quote to read when you need some extra motivation, I wanted a reminder that life is fun and messy and it’s okay to laugh off the stress once and a while. It’s healthy to be able to take a step back and know that life doesn’t have to be all about perfection if that isn’t what is making you happy, because the point of it all should be that the life you’re leading is “good enough” for you personally, not that it appears to be “perfect” from the outside looking in! I can accept failures without feeling like a disappointment, and that has made a world of difference. While my senior quote isn’t traditional, and may even seem like a joke, there’s an element of truth behind it that was the reason I changed, and redefined the person who I hope to become.