A Million Falls Equal A Billion Successes by Gabriela

A Million Falls Equal A Billion Successes by Gabriela - April 2016 Scholarship Essay

A Japanese proverb I once read, said, “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” I sit down here writing and think, gosh I’ve been in school for thirteen years, counting preschool. If anything, I’ve learned from going to school is that this proverb is true when it comes to the matters of school or anything in life. Having gone through a lot of experience in school and much more to come, I would advise younger students to take it step by step. You may trip on one of those steps, but with every single one you learn not to fall again. We are only human, and I realize that you cannot perfect the concept of not falling again and again. Sometimes we are not fast enough to realize our mistakes until they’ve hit us several times in the face. However, that is what makes this whole journey beautiful, because we learn to lift ourselves up, even though at times we may feel that the world is not ours, our determined will moves us forward to reach “a little higher than we think possible”(Linkletter).
I’ve experienced nervousness, fear, doubt and stress all through my educational career, and it only intensifies as you get older and move up the grade levels. I’ve faced sleepless nights, trying to study for an exam in order to get a good grade, and finishing assignments due to the various other assignments that the teachers leave me. I’ve stressed out with the SAT, college applications and had to deal various times with questions, “am I doing this all right?” and “am I going in the right direction?” In truth it’s a lot of “what ifs” and getting things done and making decisions. What I’ve gathered, however, is that by not trusting myself, stressing out and letting the competition that surrounds me engulf me, I’m in fact not moving forwards, but creating damage to my own person because I’m not focusing on me, but letting other things block me from ever realizing that I’m constantly tripping over pebbles. It is not until now that I realize my faults. I think that’s what younger students have to recognize, their faults in order not to be in constant turmoil and frustration with themselves and the years of school to come. By recognizing these faults and learning how to fix them, younger students can have a successful career without the fear of falling and not being able to get up.
One thing to remember is that everyone is their own individual with different perspectives, learning methods and feelings and that is what makes each individual's effort, and journey beautiful and an enormous importance to the world. In the end realize that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel no matter how small.