My Senior Quote by Brandon

My Senior Quote by Brandon - November 2018 Scholarship Essay

During my senior year, I feel that I changed and developed most as a human being. I come from a family who historically has never attended college and I was known for hanging out with the wrong crowd. I always knew deep down that if I kept participating in negative activities, I would never amount to anything. But, I continued to do these things because I thought it would make me look cool and I never placed any real expectations for myself. When I entered my junior and mainly senior year, my whole attitude changed. It is for this reason that if I were to have a senior quote, I would choose a quote from The Breakfast Club that states "Spend a little more time trying to make something of yourself and a little less time trying to impress people."
Leading up to high school, I knew there was going to be new responsibilities and expectations that I did not think I could accomplish. Instead of thinking about how I could try to accomplish my goals, I sat around with my not-so-good friends and tried to avoid thinking about my said goals. I was afraid that if I were to actually try and accomplish them, I would fail and be crushed like I saw happen to my parents. Even though my parents have successful jobs now, they always mention how they regret never attending college because they did not think they were "smart enough" and did not place expectations for themselves. Hearing this all my life did not motivate me to do what they could not, but it motivated me to do the same thing they did since they failed at some point in their life. So, there I was, messing around and making bad choices with my friends rather than preparing for my future. When I entered high school, things were the same at first. I didn't do my homework because all I cared about was seeming "cool" to my old friends and the new high school friends I was meeting. Looking back now, I cannot imagine how I felt such a way. When junior and senior year came, my breakthrough finally happened.
I could credit my breakthrough to many things: football, my family, and my new-new friends that I ended up making. Although I participated and started in varsity football all four years, my last two seasons was when life really hit me. Rather than worrying about seeming "cool" to other people, I found myself wanting to become a leader on the field and being someone people look up to. I learned to take initiative and to hold others, along with myself, accountable for their actions even if it resulted in them not liking me so much at that moment. By doing this, I made new friends on the team that truly wanted to see me succeed. Once I began being a better person on the football field, I found myself becoming a better person all together. If I could get such satisfaction from being a good person playing football, I knew I could feel the same way in all walks of life. By the end of my high school career, I brought my GPA up to a 3.0 when I never thought it could get that high, and I also chased and achieved the dreams I have always had. Those dreams included me attending college and maintaining a good GPA.
Looking back, I like to think about how I used to act and think and become grateful for how much I have grown and changed. Rather than me being embarrassed about who I used to be, I find it much easier to embrace it and know that if I was not like that in the past, I would not have an as positive outlook as I do now. It was only until I learned how to not be so worried about what other people thought of me that I began to grow as a human being. So, for these reasons, I feel that the quote "Spend a little more time trying to make something of yourself and a little less time trying to impress people" from the Breakfast Club would make a perfect senior quote for me.