My Greatest Academic Achievement by Ashleigh

My Greatest Academic Achievement by Ashleigh - March 2014 Scholarship Essay

My greatest academic achievement came last year in the form of being the recipient of the Harvard Book Award. I was shocked when the award was presented to me. I didn't even know such an award existed. Then when I realized the narrow margin of recipients was only 1900 I was totally flabbergasted. Even now as I write this essay, I cannot believe I was selected for such a prestigious award. Receiving the Harvard Book Award ended up being just the push I needed to commit to the academic career path I have been dreaming about for the last four years.

My mother has always classified me as an (overly dramatic) over achiever. She just shakes her head and sighs in exasperation when I come home from school in a foul mood because I got a bad grade on a test. By bad grade, I mean a “B”. I still remember the time I came home from school completely inconsolable. I ran through the door and wrapped my arms around my mother and just sobbed and sobbed. When she finally got me to take a few deep breaths and calm down, she was less than sympathetic when she learned that my break down was caused over my 103% in Advanced Biology dropping down to a 96%. There was also a period of time last year when my mother thought she was going to have to spend every penny of the money she put away for my college tuition, on therapy bills. I can now admit to being slightly over dramatic when I learned my class rank was number two, and there was no way I could catch the girl who was number one unless she fell and hit her head and slipped into a coma half way through our senior year.

It was bound to happen. My rigorous academic schedule, combined with my part time job, position as President of our school’s National Honor Society, and securing the leading role in our schools musical production of Mirror Image, finally took its toll on me. My grades began to slip. Slip isn't accurately indicative of what was happening to my grades. A better description would be, “nose diving off of a cliff right into a fiery pit of lava”. When my younger siblings found out I had a “C” they would taunt me by singing, “C is for Ashleigh’s grade in Calculus”. I am almost ashamed to admit that I was so close to giving up…giving up on my grades, my job, my future plans of attending college, all of it.

I must give my mother credit. She never once said, “I told you so”. She never once asked me to acknowledge that she was right. Instead she did her best to convince me that my world was not ending. She talked to me for hours on end, giving me suggestions on how best to overcome this tumultuous time in my life. With her help and guidance I was able to recover my position on the honor roll, keep my job, handle the duties that came along with my presidency, and help make our schools musical production a hit.
However, the damage to my self-confidence seemed irreparable. I no longer believed I could get into a college with rigorous admission criteria and then double major in psychology and neuroscience with a minor in creative writing, all while participating in a work study program to assist with the cost of my tuition. I was so depressed that I began looking into classes I could take at our local community college. I wasn't giving up on my dream of being the first person in five generations of my family to attend college. I was just eliminating any chance of failure that may be associated with my dream.

Then out of nowhere I was announced as our schools recipient of the Harvard Book Award. In the blink of an eye my whole world was once again filled with possibilities. My confidence in my intelligence and ability to succeed at anything I set my mind to was restored. It is thanks to the Harvard Book award that I had the courage to apply to Allegheny College. Not only have I been accepted but I have also been awarded a Trustees Scholarship for my ability to combine academic excellence with other activities. I shudder to think of where I would be now if I had not been given the Harvard Book award. It is by far my greatest and most life changing, academic achievement.