Achieving Greatness by Carley

Achieving Greatness by Carley - May 2015 Scholarship Essay

As any senior can tell you, high school can be a very demeaning and corrupted place. I have grown up in the same small town where everyone has been together since kindergarten, which can be a good or bad thing, but as I have grown as a person and learned through my mistakes I have realized a great lesson from my peers. They have taught me that in order to make it in life I am required to have my own back, meaning I can only rely on myself to become successful. It was a hard lesson for me to understand but truthfully, not one of my peers could care less what I do with my life and whether or not I achieve my goals. Although this may not be an “academic” lesson I have learned, it is a lesson of life from my peers and has actually made a difference in my motivation as I become a college freshman next year.

Although it may seem quite harsh and/or depressing, I am actually quite thankful for this lesson from my peers because it truly has driven me to become an independent woman and rely solely on myself to accomplish greatness. As someone who has the will to become a strong independent woman I realize that not only I, but also the people and communities around me, construct society. Everyone may interpret independence differently, but as someone who strives to be self-reliant, I want to use this path I have carved to illustrate that being dependent on others is not the way to live, nor is it a way to achieve success. I want others to realize that they are able to build their own lives and achieve prosperity, without relying solely on others to accomplish their goals because truthfully...no one cares. High school peers have taught me a lot about who I am and what I want to accomplish in my life, and my goal is to exhibit to others that they are completely capable of achieving their own success.

This lesson from my classmates has truly built me into the person I am today—driven and motivated. It has been a true blessing in my life as I am attending college in the fall. My high school peers have not only been by my side academically, but emotionally and mentally as well, and I am grateful for this teaching from them. It has been an uphill battle accomplishing what I have and I am more than excited to expound my knowledge at the higher level, while still maintaining my independence. I have realized that this lesson was essential to becoming a strong independent woman and using that to help others. An education at the higher level will allow me to pursue my definition of independence and leadership, not only by granting me the opportunity to carve out my own path academically, but also by cultivating less tangible but equally important skills for understanding who I am and what I can contribute to society.