Helping Others Always Pays Off by David

Helping Others Always Pays Off by David - November 2013 Scholarship Essay

I have been blessed to attend a small public school in East Texas. The majority of the students in my class have attended this same school since kindergarten. There are several areas of my life that I believe have been significant where I have been an influence on my friends and classmates.

I have been an A honor roll student during my time at school and am the Valedictorian of my senior class. Many times my classmates will come to me for help with homework, a project or an essay they are working on. The majority of our class is on the A honor roll or the AB honor roll and most students work very hard to maintain this. I have strived to do my best at school and believe I have been an inspiration and positive force to others. I have subconsciously led by actions rather than words and others have got on board.

I am not the best athlete that you have ever seen and I will be the first to admit it. However my coaches would be the first to admit that I usually give 110% while participating in sports. I am a team player with a strong spirit of camaraderie. Once, while we were practicing cross country our coach got mad at us because no one was pushing hard. We were all tired after the long day so it was understandable but he still expected more. We were given a little break before we did the last of our running and during this time I decided I would push myself even if no one else did. We lined up and when coach said go I made my way to the front of the pack. I took the lead and kept it for the remainder of the run. When I finished I saw that a few of my teammates had followed my example and pushed themselves; however the rest of them still lagged behind. Nonetheless I stood beside the finish line and cheered them on as they completed the run. What this day showed me is that if you take the lead on something and try to help others, not everyone will be willing to follow you but if you can get a few to follow you can consider yourself successful.