“The Worst That Could Happen” by Amber

“The Worst That Could Happen” by Amber - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

It happened over twelve years ago, but the memory is so very clear. I can still see her small frame kneeling down close to my bed; I can hear her voice, tender yet firm. She didn’t know it then, but she was imparting to me a valuable lesson: if you do not let fear control your life, there is no limit to what you can accomplish.
My mother homeschooled her five children for many years, and after all these years, she’s still my favorite teacher. Though she did not attend college herself, she was determined to help her children reach academic and professional goals. My mother’s parents immigrated to the United States from Colombia when she was young, and she passed on that fiery Latino spirit. She believed in me. She genuinely believed that it was not a stretch for me to accomplish anything I set my mind to do.
When I was sixteen, my mother encouraged me to go to community college through a dual-enrollment program. I was a bit hesitant. What if I couldn’t do the work? What if others would look down on me because I was young? I did really want to try, and my mother’s confidence that I could do it, gave me the resolve to go.
The Friday evening after I had started classes at the community college, I went to my room and cried my eyes out. I felt panicky and couldn’t catch my breath. I sincerely felt that I could not make it through college. One week in and I was feeling inadequate and fearful.
My mother heard my crying and walked calmly into my room. She knelt beside the bed and asked what was wrong. “Mom, I can’t do it! I have too much anxiety. I’m not young. I’m not smart enough…I quit!” My mother remained calm. She embraced me lovingly, and began to say, “Okay, Amber. That’s alright. No one is making you go. If you don’t want to continue, then that’s your decision…But I want you to know that I know you can do this. I think you are letting fear control you, and you will soon discover that it doesn’t have to. Would you consider a challenge?” I nodded my head. “Would you try college for one more week? If after that, you feel the same way you do now, then you can stop. What’s the worst that could happen?”
I took my mother’s challenge and I’ve never regretted it. By the next week, I was completely immersed in my course work and enjoying college so much that I nearly forgot I was planning to quit. Four years later I graduated with a 4.0 GPA. And I had thought I couldn’t do it.
Many years have passed since that first week of community college, but since then I have traveled to fifteen countries, held leadership roles in several organizations and businesses, written two books, and am currently pursuing a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the world’s largest Christian university.
I have often thought back on that night in my bedroom when I’m faced with a difficult decision or my employer seems to be asking me for the impossible. Fear is our biggest enemy. The “worst that can happen” rarely does happen, and we cheat ourselves and others when we are not willing to try the things which are hard. I’m grateful for a small Hispanic woman, my teacher and my mom, who taught me this lesson. Perhaps one day I will pass on her teaching.