You Couldn't Silence Me by Corbin

You Couldn't Silence Me by Corbin - November 2018 Scholarship Essay

Hello, my name is Corbin Dittmar, and I am from South Jordan, Utah. I go to Herriman High School, and if I were choosing a senior quote that best describes me, I would say “you couldn’t silence me.” A lot of people would normally think that it’s too aggressive, or some might even say rude, but I like to use the word daring.
I’m seventeen years old, and I have moved thirteen times in my life. I’ve never really gotten to know anyone really well. I have lived in South Jordan for almost four years, and I still don’t feel completely accepted with anyone. Everywhere I lived people never really understood me. I never really found a group of friends that supported me and my ambitions. Maybe that’s my own fault, for being a little quiet. But whenever I never really had the support from my peers.
For example, I am a cyclist. I do it competitively, and have been mountain biking since I was ten years old. Last year on my high school mountain bike team, none of my teammates were in varsity. I was only a Junior, placing better than to all of my Senior friends. When they saw that I was faster than them, they stopped caring, and stopped coming to practice. At the end of the year, I told them I wanted to race varsity the next year. They all told me it couldn’t happen, and that I would never be fast enough. One year later, I was racing varsity, and even placing well.
Up until the year I made it to varsity, I was really discouraged by their words. I really believed that I could never be fast enough, and I trusted their words more than I trusted my own abilities. Once I saw what I could do, when I pushed myself to my limit, I saw that I didn’t need to believe their words of doubt. I realized then that if others words don’t build you up, I should shut them out, rather than let them silence me.
This isn’t just for cycling, but life in general. Whether you have goals in school, in athletics, in music, in your career, anything. If you listen to the people that tell you that you can’t do it, and you let their words in, they will be right every time. This doesn’t mean block out what everyone says that changes your thoughts. Because some things can help you, like constructive criticism. The influence of your peers can help you. But only if you choose which of their words you will let in.