Everything happening for a reason. by Ashley

Everything happening for a reason. by Ashley - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

Join the United States Air Force till I approached retirement or, get out the first chance I get if it wasn’t what I thought it would be. Having my bachelors in nursing, I could work at a children’s clinic or even a hospital. This was the plan I had for myself as senior year approached. Instead life showed me that I wasn’t quite ready for the real world. Parties, gossip, relationships and even social networks had ninety-five percent of my attention while the other five percent was spent on keeping up my grades so that I could graduate on time with my class. Without putting in any effort towards reaching my goals, one year later my life came down to be cooking, cleaning, watching TV, and staying up late listening to my friends talk about their new life and its adjustments. Forty hours a week I spent alone with nothing but my thoughts being in disbelief that this is what my life consisted of. Being involved with things that were not a priority or a part of starting my life, got me to a place that I never thought I’d be. Putting the blame towards others was the best way to cope with my situation. Months began to pass while putting in no effort towards my future goal, a conversation aroused with a friend who is in college stating that she had wished she could have taken a year off away from school and focus on what she really wanted to do. With that being said, I analyzed what was said to try an understand why you would want to make such a mistake , waste time and miss out on so many new experiences. Putting much thought into those words, I began to figure out who I really was, figuring out what I really wanted to do with my life analyzing the steps needed to take in order to achieve them. I began to take action finding all the necessary tools needed to begin studying for the test that determined my eligibility to enter the Air Force as well as getting a job I was interested in. Every day I was studying, taking practice test I found on the internet, looking up videos on study tips, I felt confident in myself thinking I could get high enough scores to finally achieve something I wanted so bad. After taking the test twice not reaching the scores to enlist, giving up wasn’t an option. Preparing to take the test a third time I was informed that there was a six month delay for me to take the test. That information felt like all the things I had done in the past year was what my life will be. I had already spent so much time doing nothing with my life now having to wait almost a year to give it another shot. So I began to feel as if I was a failure, that my goals were unrealistic to achieve but then a couple days later I found a piece of paper that had my back up plan if things didn’t work out with the Air Force as I had hoped. Plan B was to go to college, get my associates degree in medical assisting to get my foot in the door in the medical field and soon try again for the Air Force. Already having a college in mind I set up a date to visit the campus while receiving the news of being accepted the same day I became so overjoyed. Knowing that my initial plan didn’t work out the way I had hoped, this feeling was priceless. Looking back at my year journey, I realized that I can’t get caught up in what other people are doing with their lives, while taking no action to prepare me for my own. The times I spent alone in a room all day was an experience that has made me know exactly what I want out of life as well as getting to know the person who wants to achieve them. If it wasn’t for that year, who knows where I could have been doing, where I would have been but looking back I am very grateful. The phrase “Everything happens for a reason” speaks nothing but the truth, for I know now the true meaning of.