Hard Work by Dakota

Hard Work by Dakota - May 2022 Scholarship Essay

Independence, being talkative, having self-confidence, and having an artistic ability are qualities I use in my everyday life. Throughout high school I tried everything from cheer leading to powerlifting, playing golf, and taking art classes. I tried out for cheer captain every year. Even though I did not make captain, I was part of the team, and enjoyed cheering. Junior year I volunteered at the district and state FCCLA competitions. This year I will be a competitor in the interior design segment.

I was lucky to inherit my creative flow from my great grandmother. This be willed trait was a good distraction from my learning disorder. In the first grade, I was diagnosed with dyslexia. I went to special classes during school that separated me from all the other kids, which really confused me. Why was I being pulled out of class just go to a different class? Why did I have to relearn the alphabet every week? These were questions I never had the confidence to ask aloud. Around third or fourth grade, the school finally decided to tell us certain students what this was all about. We still did not fully understand but we knew we were different than the other kids. As I got older, I was tired of missing parts of my classes and having to catch up later. This drove me to work hard in school to get off the 504-accommodation list. High school rolled around, and I still was not off the list. I started to lose hope. My classes were hard, and I was just barley passing them. I thought that was good enough. Then I started getting questions about college. I had completely forgotten I wanted to go to college. But I knew the places I wanted to go would not except barley passing grades and a low GPA. Junior year I had my head in the game and it was go time. I worked the hardest I had ever worked to lower my class rank and get a GPA with which I was happy. I did all of this while still maintaining my position as a teammate in all my sports I participated in. By the end of the year, I had some great news. My parents and the school had decided it was for time for me to be taken off the 504 list. I was ecstatic when I heard this enlightenment. So, from that day forward, I knew that hard work pays off. Hard work could be from studying for an extra hour to being focused during extracurricular practices. In my eyes, having this challenge throughout my school years was the best way for me to learn this life lesson. God gave me this obstacle for a reason and now I see why. This year I am confident enough to be in an honors class and still drive to have all A’s. It is not only being driven, but it is being dedicated as well, and that is what I will be the rest of my life.