Breathe to Succeed. by Chyna

Breathe to Succeed. by Chyna - April 2014 Scholarship Essay

Huckleberry Finn is the character who has had the biggest influence on me throughout the years. Not only did he have to go through peer pressure, he also needed to learn boundaries and to achieve success. When people think of high school, they think of it as an educational stepping-stone to get into college, and then in turn a successful career. But if you were to look up close, you would see that education is only one aspect of high school. High school is about peer pressure, being judged on how you look, and the memories that you make, with the friends that you have made in a short four-year period. The experience you have in high school is what shapes the person you will eventually become in life.

The transition between middle school and high school is said to be one of the hardest. You go from trying to please your teachers and your parents to trying to discover who you are, and your role in society. My transition to high school, up to my sophomore year was a rollercoaster. I had to learn that teachers were there to teach you, not to babysit you. I realized that they were there for me to use if I made the effort to receive help, but they weren’t going to hold my hand. Simultaneously outside the classroom I was learning equally difficult lessons. For my extracurricular I decided to take on the positions of Team Manager for the JV Girl’s Basketball team and Cheer Team Captain. I took in two foreign languages (Chinese and Spanish), joined the advanced dance team and partook in two clubs. On top of all of this I also did community service. Now looking back on it, I realize how much pressure I put on my self during what is said to be one of the hardest transitions in life. As I’ve matured, I learned the meaning behind quality over quantity. I learned that wanting to “fit in” and to be seen as important had its place, but it was definitely not above education. I wanted to please everyone, but I was sacrificing my schoolwork and grades to do so. Unfortunately, I realized that this sacrifice was only harming myself. This realization was a rude awakening. I needed to get my act together and straighten out my priorities. I took action to improve myself by putting in full effort in school and learning time management.

From my freshman year till now, my grades have improved significantly and my GPA is reflective of my academic upward trend. Just about a third of the way through my senior-year of high school, I am doing well in school and I am actively taking part in many extracurricular school activities and clubs. I am still attending Chinese school on Saturday mornings and I continue to volunteer my time to my community.
With all of this said, I feel as though Huck Finn really impacted me and resembled my struggles as well.