Adaptation: Efficiency to Achievement by Grace

Adaptation: Efficiency to Achievement by Grace - June 2024 Scholarship Essay

Informal education has helped me to achieve academic success through the skill of adaptability.

We receive and process a tremendous amount of information in our lifetimes. From infancy–when everything is new, and development rapid–to old age when the next medical decision made could heighten or diminish the final years of one’s life. At any phase of life, it could be argued that the decisions we make throughout our lives hold great potential to ordain what we consider to be success or failure.

My father has always taught my sisters and I that adaptability is the key to survival in anything we do. New information is cause for reanalysis, and this is observable in almost any instance.
For example, this spring, I tried my hand at gardening for the very first time. I started with an acorn squash plant, giving the plant much sun and water, only to discover the leaves beginning to yellow. After trial and error, learning that droopiness of the leaves indicates too much water, not too much sun. I better understood the favorable conditions for the squash, and with time, achieved the desired result: a healthy plant and some acorn squashes.
Another example could be a company producing and selling refrigerators. They may have a good product, but to keep up with competitors, they must observe what their customers want. When the latest product has a flaw, they must change the fridge in a way that combats that flaw, and therefore continues business.

In addition, one can observe and adapt their own tendencies according to self-awareness. One school year, I took on more work than I could truly handle at the time. As I quickly discovered my own metaphorical drowning under the workload, I was able to see that my time management greatly contributed to my struggles. I then adapted my own habits (time management, self-discipline) to accommodate my workload—and considered my capability as the next school year came around.

Going to college was never a question of if in my mind, until I began experiencing extreme pain when playing the piano and writing. This pain began to follow me through the rest of my waking (and sleeping) hours; I didn’t understand it. I went to multiple doctors and teachers, to little avail, until I was reminded to look at my patterns, habits, and what the effects were.
For years, my movement when playing had been improper, causing so many obstacles. Now I am unlearning old habits and building up new, good habits—adapting the very methods by which I move—that I may attend college and successfully accomplish my academic pursuits. I will continue to observe and adapt in everything I do for the rest of my life. The skill of adaptability is the key to more than survival. It is the key to flourishing at any endeavor.
The only way I could have learned the skill of adaptability is through informal education.