The Key Within by Eamon

The Key Within by Eamon - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

When asked the question, "who has inspired you most academically?", we often think of teachers, parents, and mentors, pushing you to do better and helping you find your passion. However, the person we never fail to overlook in contributing to our successes is ourselves. We are the people that light the fire. It doesn't matter who helps you and opens doors for you if you do not have that passion burning within yourself. The person who has inspired me most academically is myself. Although there have been wonderful mentors along the way, my story wouldn't be complete without my own perseverance and reflection.
When I went to college, I would say I was pushed into pursuing a degree by my parents, who strongly believe in the power of education. My freshman year, I declared a major in Industrial Engineering. I was unmotivated, uninspired, and extremely grade-focused. It took an entire year for me to realize that what people wanted from me wasn't what I wanted for myself. I realized that the way I learned wasn't the way I've been told to learn my entire life. I hit a low point freshman year, hitting a block I couldn't dream of finding a way past. Then, in working a minimum wage job over the summer, I realized what I truly wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to create things. I didn't want to work as a manager, I didn't want to crunch data to make systems more efficient. I wanted to solve problems of the future. I changed my major to Civil Engineering when I got back to school. I am currently in my first semester of Sophomore year and my outlook on life and my academics has completely changed.
Although it took me longer than most people to find what really lit my fire, I truly believe that I have found it, and the way I approach problems and the way I approach life has changed. I believe it was the person who was inspired that inspired me the most, as I have been in tough spots in my life and managed to fight through them. I am driven to accomplish things that will improve me as a person and hopefully improve the world. As much as we search for inspiration outside of ourselves, often times the key to creating a better future is buried within ourselves, and we just have to find it.