Emily's Goals by emily

Emily's Goals by emily - August 2022 Scholarship Essay

I’m a first-generation student, so school is a factor that I very much depend on to fulfill my wants and needs in life. My needs include paying my beloved parents back for immigrating to a country with little to no knowledge about the country, the United States. Even though they started with very little money and barely any English, they made sure their kids went to good schools that offered a variety of opportunities to set them up for success in a world that sometimes seemed cruel to their kids. For example, I’m walking into St. Alphonsus with high hopes that I will love school. I’m dressed in my school uniform which consists of navy pants and a button-up shirt with a high tight ponytail, which made me feel professional and ready to take on any challenge. My teachers, however, thought that due to my lack of English and being extremely introverted I had no chance of passing kindergarten. My parents fought and fought with their broken English for me to pass to the next grade because they knew the brilliant little girl they had. This is where I learned to try hard in school because I could see how devastated it was for my parents. My wants include being able to go out shopping, responsibly, on a random weekday because I just want to, and not stressing if I have enough money or not. To some, this might sound stupid and dumb but I believe that it comes from a place where I wasn’t privileged enough to spend money on new shoes or clothes because my family was made up of six and my parents had just enough to provide food on the table for their kids. These are the reasons why I have the motivation to get up in the morning and make every day count.
I attended St. Alphonsus Parish school for my middle school education and my goal there was to get good grades and make my parents proud. In high school, I went to school at Totino-Grace High school and my goals were to get good grades, make friends and get into a good college. I start my first year at the University of Minnesota, which is huge. So there I was again just keeping my head down and getting good grades. However, I quickly noticed this routine doesn’t work at a University. I can’t just get good grades and hope that a good company picks me just for being average. Therefore my goal for the upcoming year is to step out of my comfort zone to join clubs and go to events, get my first internship, and make friendships that will last. However, academically I still want to get on the Dean’s list which requires a 3.666 GPA and I want to do outstanding in my computer science courses where the professor wants me to be a TA for their class, that's how good I want to do.
I owe my parents so much and forever will be thankful for them. I have learned a lot during this past year about what I should and shouldn’t be doing next year academically. I plan to make the most of this school year.