Formidable experience by Gaoussou

Formidable experience by Gaoussou - May 2021 Scholarship Essay

Many children tend to behave immaturely in their early childhood. I was once one of those children. I went through many experiences, but I have also learned plenty of things about myself among which: the sense of responsibility and courage.
First of all, I assumed my responsibilities for the first time. My parents always believed in me, and I knew it, but I always wanted to escape my responsibilities. I just wanted to play all the time without having to worry about anything else, break things, and mess around without thinking about the repercussions. Even being aware of that, my parents send me to the United States to pursue my studies, showing at what point they believed in me. Leaving an 18 year -old boy on his own in a foreign country not to mention spending a lot of money on his education. In Guinea it is less likely to find an 18-year-old boy leaving by himself even if he does not have to pay for any expenses; besides, letting an 18-year-old boy that was a few months ago on the wrong side of the line. It is all the more important to mention that the studies in the United States are more expensive than the studies in my country. In my country, we use the franc Guinean as national currency and $1 equals 10000 fcg which means that if studies are expensive for American students, it is 4 times more expensive for Guinean students. At one point even though my father believed in me, he did not want to let me come to study in a foreign country alone, but he believed in me, and I did not deceive him. To illustrate, When I first started, I had to take English classes. I did it; I took the reading and writing 2 and 3, and I also revised more than enough to be ready to take the Accuplacer test. I successfully passed the test, got straight to the 980, and now I am taking credits classes. I haven’t had any problem with no one, and I will keep doing so. Every time I show them my good grades, my parents are happy, which makes me happy too, and I can now proudly say that I am responsible.
Most importantly, there is courage in every one of us. I never knew how courageous I was before because I had never been confronted in a situation where I had to prove to myself that I was courageous. My father wanted me to be an Architect. I grew up in Guinea, Conakry. Guinea is located in West Africa. Before I turned 18, I was the kind of kid who liked to disturb not only his parents, but also his siblings, and his classmates. I was immature and careless, and without vocation. I was also involved in many school fights, but my parents always believed in me. My father had a goal for me; he wanted his son to be an Architect. I also wanted to do something in the future that would help people on the street (homeless)or at least play an important role in helping society, so I agreed. I agreed with my father’s choice, but I did not know all the realities involved in it. Realities such as being aware of the fact that to be an architect, the designated person should first graduate from a high school and pursue his studies in Architecture in a university which means more and more years of study, and I was not ready to make any efforts to reach that goal. To illustrate, in 2018, when I was still in 12thgrade, my father asked me to take the national exam. In my country, someone graduates only when he passes his“Terminal class”. Terminal class is the class that comes right after the 12th grade, and it is also a class of national exams. It is a class one’s has to pass to graduate. I was in 12th grade, but my father wanted me to take the national exam with the terminal students. I was stressed at that time because I did not want to do it, but I also did not want to deceive my parents. I decided then to study more than my classmates at that time to achieve what my father wanted me to do. I had to study doubly as I was in 12th grade, so logically I had a final exam to pass in addition to the national exam, and I only had 4 months left. I worked hard and my efforts paid off. I still remember the moment my brother called me on the phone telling me that I had passed successfully the national exam and my 12th grade’ final exam; what I felt that day was a mix of happiness, proudness, but also sadness because I had to leave my friends, but most importantly my parents were proud of me, so was I!
Finally, all those experiences not only taught me a sense of responsibility, but they also brought out the courage that laid in me. Now I know for a fact that with courage, we can achieve whatever we want in life. In my opinion, the experience is what forges a man, and I wouldn’t be a student majoring in Architecture Technology at Montgomery College if I had not gone through all these steps.