The Future by Andrea

The Future by Andrea - April 2016 Scholarship Essay

A piece of advice I would give younger students, would be that life only gets harder. As you grow older, you are going to be disappointed, cheated, treated poorly, and there will be nothing you can do about it. The stress you feel from school will most likely get worse, your courses will get harder and your teachers will get stricter. You will experience a variety of highs and lows, and sometimes doubt yourself and your decisions.

These factors will end up affecting how you feel, but they should never define who you are as a person. A test you failed, a person you had a falling out with, they are just minor parts to your own story. Parts that you will forget about by the time you get to my age. Education is important, but your mental health should be your number one priority. I've witnessed countless people breakdown due to overwhelming stress and anxiety, and I've seen them unable to pick up the pieces and fix themselves. I've seen them live with lower confidence because what they were unable to achieve.

Your main goal should be to worry about yourself. To worry about how you feel about your actions and your decisions. It's up to you to determine who you want to be in this world and to fight for your own happiness. In my opinion, the only way to achieve this is by having the right mindset to decide what's going to shape your character and what's going to define it.