How to overcome adversity. by Brian

How to overcome adversity. by Brian - April 2016 Scholarship Essay

I’d like to share with the younger students how you can overcome adversity.

The walls began to close in, places of refuge are dwindling, and the ability to run has left my body. Where did this feeling come from? Why is it attacking me? Do I allow myself to succumb to the perpetual strength of the beast? I gather every ounce of will in my body, stand up on my aching wobbly knees, and…. This powerful beast that preys on people daily is adversity.

Adversity is a state of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune. It was my sophomore year of high school at From the Heart Christian School and life was going great. As my immature mind and I went throughout the nine months of my sophomore year, I began to allow myself to be swayed by peer pressure, the temptation of sin and by the arrogance of an overzealous tenth grader, Brian White. The consequences were complex: my high school transcript was tarnished and I was suspended. I allowed the ways of this world to steer me into a direction that will lead to a life of sin and unrighteousness.

This is adversity, a trial, and tribulation I was forced to face. I had to decide if I wanted this “beast” to consume my entire life and win, or put up a fight and realize my life is too valuable to be one of emptiness, but the “beast” would not let up. Many punches were thrown my way, I was suspended, lost favor with my teachers and faculty, my parents were disappointed and could not trust me anymore and I lost many of my friends.
How could I allow myself to be a victim? Where did I go wrong? Then it hit me, my raging flesh wanted to always please it and my pride had consumed my heart. My ways of thinking were sinful in nature. Brian White was defeated….or was he?

With the help of loving and Godly parents, true friends, and righteous family members, the adversity I faced became a lesson learned from the past. I believe the thing that allows people to be consumed by adversity is that they try to forget the past and move on; when in actuality the past is a key asset to having a prosperous future. You cannot move forward until you know where you have come from. Facing adversity is not a walk in the park, you might get a little dirty, get some bumps and bruises, but you must keep going. You cannot allow adversity to define your life.
Even though I overcame adversity with the help of my relationship with God, adversity lies, and waits, waiting to get its next victim. To avoid this you must keep God first, focus on school, and lastly love your friends and family unconditionally.