Focus by Courtney

Focus by Courtney - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

As I have grown older, New Years resolutions haven’t been a huge tradition for me. I am a twenty-year-old college student and life is constantly changing for me enough as it is.
However, the new year always brings some kind of magic and inspiration to get a fresh perspective on things, whether I made resolutions in the traditional sense or not.
This year, I decided my number one resolution would be to really focus on myself in every area. I know that may sound cliché, but I have not had this opportunity before. Of course, every eighteen year old goes through the phase of trying to find out who they are, and while I did experience some of that phase, it was mainly everyone else telling me who I was and I just accepted their definition. That ended up causing more pain than anything because their definition did not align with what I was truly feeling. Now that I have rid myself of that lowly definition of myself, I want to really focus on what I want for myself.
I believe this will help me excel as a student because instead of just getting by, I want to be the best in my field, which requires the best work to be put in. Since I am taking this leap to truly focus on me that extends to my education and career. I am passionate about working in psychology and as a counselor; I want to be able to go above and beyond for patients in helping them. No one wants to feel like they are not receiving the best of the best care. With this new resolution and perspective, I am learning that the only way I can truly be able to help others is to be sure I am helping myself first-that I am taken care of before I advise someone about how to take care of themselves.
I believe it is an important mindset for any student-when I know what I want and how to accomplish it, I am sure to be motivated to succeed-that all starts with focusing on myself first. I am looking forward to the coming year as I can see the resolution in action in my education.