No Need for Perfection by Ashlynn

No Need for Perfection by Ashlynn - June 2021 Scholarship Essay

Teachers were the true stepping stones of the beginning of my educational career. Growing up in a small town, there were teachers who taught for several generations of your family and who continued to make a lasting impact on your life. On the other hand, there were those teachers who came later in life but made just as big of an impact. The most influential teacher I have ever had in my life was my high school art teacher, Mrs. Handy. I was never the most artsy kid in my class, I enjoyed to color and doodle but nothing more. When I learned that I was required to take an art class in high school I dreaded every single second of it. I couldn’t stop thinking about how I would be judged over something that I created rather than my academic abilities. Regardless, I pushed through by giving the bare minimum. Mrs. Handy knew I had more within me and she pushed me to think outside of the box and think of ways I could add my personality into my projects. This way, I was actually excited to work on my art, and I was proud to show her the final product. She always told us, “I don’t give 100’s in my class, we as humans are not perfect, I’m not perfect and I don’t expect you to me, and that is okay.” This way, I didn’t feel any pressure to perform with absolute perfection and I could allow myself to enjoy the project I was working on.

Soon after, the school year passed and I was done with my one required art credit. I learned so much about Mrs. Handy in that one year and she learned more about me than I have ever let any other teacher know. I knew I couldn’t finish high school without being a student in her class, so I took up journalism seeing as she was also our school’s yearbook editor. This way, I was able to see her almost every day and I could turn my new found love for art into a different way of expressing it, through pictures. We continued to have our deep conversations almost daily, I continued to learn about her life and she learned about mine. Closer to my senior year, I asked her about where she went to college and if she had any tips for me. She informed me about Texas Lutheran College (TLC). I absolutely loved the idea of what she was saying, and less than a year later, I applied to the newly named Texas Lutheran University (TLU). Following graduation, I was able to keep in contact with her through texting and we were able to meet up on campus in order to catch up on her memories as I was creating my own. I will forever be grateful for being required to take an art credit when entering high school, it introduced me to a woman who has forever changed my life and always reminded me that throughout my life, there is no need for perfection.