Balancing the Scale by Heather

Balancing the Scale by Heather - November 2013 Scholarship Essay

Life is like a scale. Always trying to balance out the weight, yet sometimes it will not occur because the force of one side is too extreme. In my junior year of high school, I learned how important balance is in not only school, but life as well. This is the greatest life lesson I have learned.

Junior year was a great turning point. I got my license, received my first job, was officer of a club, AP student, dual enrolled, and for the first time ever participated in sports through the school. This made me a very busy student and unfortunately these activities led me to neglect other aspects of my life that are equally if not more important. My scale was off balance, and the stress eventually got to me.

I experienced unexpected weight loss and was missing out on events with my family. My nieces found themselves puzzled the few times I was able to visit them. I was a stranger, the girls who meant the world to me did not know who I was. This gap also caused strain between my siblings and I. I missed my little sister’s basketball games. My first friend, my brother, and I began to ceaselessly argue every day.

My friends of five years became strangers as well. I found myself making plans yet always canceling. I soon became a stranger to them as well. When I did see them conversation was at an awkward stand still, and I soon found them to be the ones canceling on me. This was all due to the weight on my scale getting heavier with each activity.

I found myself constantly reminding myself why I was putting myself through such exile. “Colleges love a well-rounded student.” I thought that I could spend more time with them the more successful I became, but it was a lie. With each position and promotion more of my time was required for other things. Time was not being allotted for personal purposes. I became consumed at doing well at everything I found myself participating in, except being myself.

I found myself on paper the typical “well-rounded” student. Unfortunately a feeling of emptiness began to consume my thought. That I was doing something wrong. I questioned how I could fit anything else into my busy schedule. It didn’t occur to me that what really needed to occur was to cut back and balance. This happened when I learned that I would be missing our final vacation as a family. This same week I did not receive a single reply from my closest friends.

This summer my sports seasons had ended. There was a window for some time. I was still enrolled in college courses over the summer, so I cut some of my hours at work. I was striving to make up some of the memories and time I had so busily missed out on. I now find myself at family dinner every single Sunday and make time for friends at least once a week.

The greatest lesson I learned in high school is something that each person should realize, sometimes there are more important things than a resume. I lost a year of precious time with the ones I loved when I let the idea consume me. Thankfully, I found my balance and am now content with my current position in life. The weight is even and finally off my shoulders.