Confidence in the Face of Adversity by Halle

Confidence in the Face of Adversity by Halle - May 2022 Scholarship Essay

Confidence is a quality I believe everyone should strive to possess. The ability to recognize one's fears and continue despite embarrassment, pressure, or denial shows true strength and is a quality I am now proud to possess.
In my first year of middle school, my parents signed me up for the Cross Country and Track teams in the fall and spring. Running competitively is something I had not previously considered, but as it turned out, I found myself at the top of my team. With this responsibility came feelings of fear and anxiety. I felt obligated to run my best in each race, despite this expectation never presenting itself, and my mental health plummeted. By the end of the year, I feared sports, yet felt trapped in a cycle of participating each year for six years of my life.
My last season as a senior, I saw an intense decline in my running ability. All of the pressure I built up over the years had weights strapped to my ankles that I found impossible to fight through unless I simply let them go. Now, three weeks from graduating high school, I have stripped myself of these trivial fears; they held me captive for far too long. Without such immense pressure and obligation, my final Track season has shown much improvement, and I am finally having fun.
This experience of finally letting go of my fears is by far my greatest achievement to this day. It outweighs all of my accomplishments with my art and writing, and is far greater an achievement than a 4.0 GPA. Confidence is an ability that can not be measured by a grade, yet it is the most important skill school has taught me. Without this confidence, I would have never signed up to take a public speaking class, or had sought out a therapist for the benefit of my mental health.
In the future, I wish to receive a degree in Graphic Design at Kansas State University. With this skill, I will become an entrepreneur and open a small online business with my art, writing, and music. I will make a point to encourage young creators to be bold and pursue their dreams with confidence, as I have, and to never back down in the face of adversity or fear. As I have learned, a dreamer who simply dreams never achieves anything, but one who is truly devoted to their work, with a little bit of confidence, can achieve anything.