Preparing for the Future by Hannah

Preparing for the Future by Hannah - November 2019 Scholarship Essay

Let me tell you a story; last year, I graduated from high school. With countless numbers of studying, numerous classes, balancing extracurriculars, and all the last moments I witnessed, I graduated high school. I graduate knowing I made a difference there, and even though at the time I thought of it as a small difference, any difference is still a difference.
Throughout my time spent in high school I had to figure out what I could do in order to make a difference. Every year there was something new. Freshman year, I joined the cheer team, and showed girls you didn’t have to be a stereotypical cheerleader in order to be on the field. Sophomore year, I took classes that were way too hard, and worked with people to help them do the same, while also teaching others so they could pass. Junior year, I became apart of the varsity softball team. And senior year came..and I had nothing? All 3 years I had something I did that made a difference to at least one person. But in the final year of high school, what was I going to do?
I have always thought about making movies, or trailers, and getting a view of things that others did not expect. Throughout my years of doing this in previous classes, I had gained relationships with people that others were too afraid to talk to. I created a bond with members of the student body, that I would have never expected. So as it came time to graduate, what was I going to do to keep that momentum going?
One morning as I was sitting in class, the intercom came on for daily announcements, and I heard of an opportunity for showcasing the school to the incoming students in the form of a video. This video would be up to the designer on how it was made, and the only requirement was it had to cover different aspects of the school that would involve incoming freshmen within the school’s life. No matter through the options for classes, extracurriculars, sports, or even clubs, it just had to get students excited about what was to come.
So, you know what I did? I took the challenge. I had to make a video covering different aspects of the school, with minimal camera equipment, and little time, in order to inform the incoming freshman about their new life at high school.
Fast forward to almost 3 months later of shooting scenes, reshooting scenes, interviewing, setting up meetings, and even editing, the video was finished. I had successfully been able to make an 8-minute video detailing a freshman’s life within high school. I taught them about different options of classes, introduced them to different counselors, showed them different clubs, gave them an insight into different activities, and even introduced them to some teachers. I was able to give advice about my journey in high school, that although they may not think is accurate at first, further into these next four years, they’ll probably realize what I said is pretty accurate.
The day came for the video’s debut to our orientation of incoming freshmen, and it could not have gone better. As I hid behind a pillar, embarrassed from everything that I did to make this video, they loved it. I was able to make a new generation of kids excited about what was going to happen in high school. They actually couldn’t wait for the following school year to start. And as I found out, this video is going to be shown over the next several years. So from what I originally thought was a small impact on a group of kids, actually turned into one of the biggest impacts I had over my four years. I actually got kids excited to learn and take part within this community. And that’s something you can never replace. The kids that I was able to talk to, ultimately became ready to journey into their future.