Success Is The Journey by Angelina

Success Is The Journey by Angelina - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

I have realized now that I will not get to express myself as much as I would like anymore while going into the real world. Before I go though, I would love to express my thanks to a very important person for being a phenomenal teacher, leader, and like a second father to me.
When I hopped on to the JROTC train, I was new to the Anchor Bay School District, as my instructor already knew. I was a wee-little eighth grader. I was curious. I wanted to know everything about everything. I was the kid who always asked questions, spoke up, made points, and basically annoyed the bejeezus out of everyone. It was all in pure innocence. Everything was a learning experience, ESPECIALLY being the only girl in that hour for the entire year. I wanted to say thank you to him for everything even before I entered the program. I have been told that he was the reason I got in to Anchor Bay Middle School North. It really meant a lot to me and my entire family.
Eighth grade was quite the adventure, and it helped to have a strong start and end. It paved my road for the rest of high school. A thank you to him for teaching me the best lesson I could ever receive: “Success Is a Journey, Not a Destination.”
All through eighth and ninth grade he emphasized the importance of being a “square,” not a “circle”. He encouraged the younger students to step out of their ruts and to speak up, as they are still encouraged to. He used improv to get us used to being comfortable with our own voices, and I thank him for introducing me to a new-found passion: creative thinking, speaking, and expression.
As I grew older, I realized that there were not too many people like me anymore (as far as expression went). It was definitely frustrating for me. There were not as many people who asked the important questions and spoke up about the right things. He had set a wonderful example of what a leader should embody. It was then that I knew how I wanted to rub off on others. I wanted to encourage others to move forward. I wanted to be a motivator. I wanted to encourage others to ask those questions, say those comments, express those concerns, come up with those “what-if’s” and “what-are’s”. I wanted creative thinkers to surround me. Thank you to him for pushing that mindset all throughout high school. It meant a lot that he viewed every day as a new day.
Throughout Junior and Senior year, he taught us all not to give up early, because all of the little things still needed to fall into place. He inspired us to find our driving motivation. He inspired us to keep going, even after the chaos of the entire year wound down. Thank you to him for being the driving force that kept us all going.
I would love to thank him much more for giving me the opportunity to be a cadre to the eighth grade hour this year. Teaching them to be motivators is the one thing I have left to keep the inflow of motivated, creative thinkers in this program alive. Thank you to him for guiding me in the right direction not only this year, but in all years past. I cannot even mention everything I would love to mention, or this would literally be twelve pages long. Thank you to him for giving me an example of how to teach and inspire others. Thank you to him for everything he’s done for me and my family as well. Writing alone cannot express how grateful we are for everything.
Meanwhile, in the process of rubbing off on other people, I realized my own downfall. I did not make any time for myself. I wanted to do everything. I wanted to overthink every task so it became a project. He had noticed right away. He always did. Over this past year or few, he taught me to appreciate the things that I was teaching to others.
“Don’t be afraid to delegate and ask for help.”
“Think smarter, not harder.”
“Be part of the solution, not the problem.”
“Success Is the journey, not the destination.”
“You can’t do everything, but you can do anything that you know you are capable of.”
So to him, I’d like to say even more thank you-s.
Thank you to him for helping my journey mold me for the better. Thank you to him for helping me through the little things, and not so little things. Thank you to him for teaching me that everything that’s happening is happening right on time. Thank you to him for teaching me to walk slow. I can now say, that I have walked slow, and I have made it.
Thank you, Colonel Jeff Carrothers, for keeping that curious little eighth grader alive.