Dad’s Inspiration by Amaris

Dad’s Inspiration by Amaris - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

If I had to pick out one person who has inspired my academic success the most, it’d be my father. He has always pushed me to be the best that I can be. He knew my worth before I knew it so he never allowed me to slack or give up. Anytime I receive academic achievements, I look to my dad. He makes me not only want to be the most successful person in my family but also the most successful person I can be. That means not having a limit; that means going out of my comfort zone; that means trying new and harder things; that means working harder than the average student. He has not only supported me and pushed me to great achievements but he has also showed me what success is and how to have mental strength when it comes to dealing with difficulties in life. He was always blunt that success isn’t an easy road to drive on, but once you reach your destination you have found the key to life. He always said to me “you are brilliant daughter; you are the full package”. In other words, I am blessed with many different skills. The more I matured throughout my middle school and high school career, the more I listened to my dad and just followed his direction. He compares me to the daughters of President Obama – Malia Obama and Sasha Obama – and that encourages and holds me to a high expectation that I would like to be looked at as one day: Classy, educated and well-spoken. I will never forget being a sophomore going into my junior year. The legend about junior year is that it is the hardest year of high school. Everyone said that and honestly it discouraged me because I didn’t do as well as I wanted to my sophomore year so I couldn’t imagine what junior year was going to have in store for me. I imagined if it were the hardest year and I didn’t do so great sophomore year then I’d do even worst my junior year. I received a GPA of 3.7 sophomore year but I always wanted to have a 4.0 and above so it wasn’t an achievement for me and I knew I had to work even harder because I couldn’t allow that to affect my outcome. My father told me to not listen to the rumors and what others said. He told me it would be my easiest year and honestly I didn’t believe that, because students whom just went through their junior year were the ones saying it. I ended up receiving a 4.2 GPA for my junior year which was the highest GPA I ever received for the year. Junior year was definitely more difficult than any previous year, but I was more trained for higher level courses and I had the ambition to match those courses well. I went into the year discouraging myself because of the rumor talk, but with my dad on the side he encouraged me to fight against what the rumors said and prove my ambition. My dad knows me more than I know myself which is why he told me it’d be my easiest year. He knew that I was going into junior year 10x smarter and that I’d be going into the year knowing I had to make up for last year’s faults. His words of encouragement have brought me a long way; they are just words, but those words mean more to me than most things in life. Knowing I’m making someone proud is my biggest achievement in life. Success is not an easy door to open, but with a person on your side who is full of support and hope for you, it is all worth working toward. My dad has conditioned me to not be the cheerleader of the squad, but the captain of the cheerleading squad. He has conditioned me to not be the student in an AP course but THE student in an AP course; I am the student who isn’t afraid to asks questions; I’m the one who isn’t afraid to raise my hand not being one hundred percent certain my answer is correct. See, I’m not afraid to speak out. I learn and grow as a human being as we all do. I thank my dad for making me the bravest, strongest and ambitious female I can be. I now have a growth mindset, instead of a fixed mindset.