Learning Your Balance by Bethany

Learning Your Balance by Bethany - November 2014 Scholarship Essay

I think that my biggest piece of advice to an incoming high school freshman would be to learn how to find and maintain your balance in life. Grades are very important to excel and to push yourself in front of the pack nowadays, but there also must be an inner balance. I think inner balance is as important as intelligence or a perfect grade point average because the person who is well-rounded and balanced is enlightened, observant, and giving of their time. I have found that when I volunteer my time to my community and to my family, as well as studying and doing homework, I am calmer and happier which also helps my grades and general outlook.

So much pressure and accountability rests on the number of a grade. And while it is important, one must ask oneself if the number is more important than your own humanity. Just as we must maintain a balanced diet and balanced sleep, so too must we maintain a balanced lifestyle. Friendships and social time must be balanced with alone and quiet time. School events should be balanced with community events. A young person who knows that visiting a children's hospital or a nursing home also knows that grades don't always "make the man". It takes more than homework or essays or presentations in class to learn how to be a productive, fulfilled human being. It seems to me that those young people who apply themselves and are present in every aspect of their being are more engaged and happier and healthier and will succeed more easily than those who only focus on one aspect of life.

Find your balance. Find your passion. Find a way to meld it to your grades and academics. But don't forget to have fun, too. That advice would have carried me a lot further in life if I had known it years ago instead of succumbing to the pressure of a numbered grade. And sometimes knowing the possibility of a life outside a classroom is as important as what is taught inside that classroom.