Academic Challenge by Ernesto

Academic Challenge by Ernesto - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

During my Junior year of high school, I took 3 college classes and an advanced math class while balancing my responsibilities at home, a job and after school activities. My Chemistry class was a real tough one, being that I must use many math conversions and formulas that was used during real life problems and labs. This all had to be done within a 45 min class throughout the school year, while at home I would have to finish and pay for my responsibilities that I have chosen to fulfill. While balancing at a part time job right after school, where I would not get home until 10 o'clock, only to finish my homework that I receive daily.
School used to be a time where I can converse with my friends while doing our homework and have group studies, but I couldn’t keep up with any of them, because of the many duties that I have picked up. It became so stressful, because all I could do was my school work to keep my grades up. There was many times where I had many breakdowns, for the fact that there was so much for me to take in and I did not have as much time as the other students. I had only had a 30 minute margin between school and work, and arriving to work was a 15 minute drive. During the weekends I would do chores for my parents, sometimes they would last all day. After a long hard day, I would finish my homework that I would get over the weekend as well, all the hour long videos, essays, and math problems.
This was all tough to do at my age, but I pulled myself together and learned to manage my time and have specialized times to spend one task throughout the day. During my days off of work, I would catch up on everything that I was behind or try to get ahead. I learned that it is better to take small bites than a big one, because I could choke on all the things that I try to do all at once. It was a hard experience, but I also learned to be responsible and it made a step closer to adulthood. This is what I will be experiencing during college and this is the best way to learn, instead of having to learn it on the days of being in college.