"At least you're not on fire" by CARMEN

"At least you're not on fire" by CARMEN - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

8th grade can be one of the scariest years of a middle schoolers life. With high school right around the corner I felt so many emotions that I could not begin to explain, I was scare, nervous, anxious, and everything in between. I learned a lot of important things that year but there is one that I live by to this very day "At least you're not o fire." My 8th grade US history teacher taught me so many great things and he allowed me to express myself in ways that I was never able to before. One day I was eating lunch in his classroom because I was terribly upset, when I started to explain what was happening and after he listened he told me that even though I was having a bad day some people where having a bad week and even a bad life and that I should be incredibly grateful for what I do have in my life because one bad day does not equal a bad life. Right before he left the room he said to me "Hey, at least you're not on fire" and from that moment on I never took a single moment in my life for granted, the good or the bad I accepted each day as they came.

The rest of my eight grade year came with many ups and downs and no matter what I always remembered what my teacher told me. Living with the idea that I am not the only person who has bad days and knowing that everyone experiences all sorts of ups and downs that are way worse than mine has really molded my character. I was never one to see a bad situation as a good thing but after my teacher told me those few little words everyday was a learning experience, even if my day was one of the worst days possible I looked for the good part of my day and I held on to that to be able to make my day a better one.

Being so young then I never truly understood the meaning, I just thought my teacher was being silly but now especially with all the things going on around me in the world it makes so much more sense. I do not have a bad life, there are others out there who can barely make it another day and they are on fire meaning their life is at the worst possible place that it could be while my life is not like that and knowing that others life is has made me a lot more sympathetic about how others live their lives and how they deal with their life day by day. Now I truly appreciate that I am not on fire.