What Would I Tell My Past Self? by Jayson

What Would I Tell My Past Self? by Jayson - September 2022 Scholarship Essay

If I could give one piece of advice to my past self it would be to take care of myself. I started my freshman year at Santana as one of the best freshmen in San Diego during the 2019 Cross Country season. This sounds so perfect from the surface but it really wasn’t. I know there are many people out there that would’ve loved to have the speed I had as a freshman but I promise you that how I took care of myself mentally and physically was so unfair, and I wish nobody to ever go through what I had to. Bringing water to practice was not a common occurrence. Mentally I thought I was too good for water or that I didn’t need it. Looking back on it now I’m honestly so flabbergasted that I could ever disregard something so important to the human body because of how my ego was ahead of the reality I lived in. As if the insufficient hydration wasn’t bad enough, my sleep deprivation was the icing on the cake. I would get an average of 5 hours of sleep per night because just like hydration, I thought I was too good for sleep and didn’t need the necessary 8 hours to function well or get through the day.
But it didn’t stop with those necessities. I thought that school wasn’t important for me because in my mind scholarships for running would be easy with how fast I was at the time. In school, I didn’t put the effort in. I had a 3.5 GPA my freshman year and never thought twice about putting in extra effort or attending tutorials after school. If I failed a test I’d brush it off without even trying to get help. If something challenged me in the homework or in class, I just wouldn’t do the work. I soon realized that athletics can only get you so far in life, while academics carries you further.
To answer this question I could’ve easily stated not to be as cocky but I don’t think that would be right. I believe as bad as this year was, it taught me to respect myself. I chose to tell myself to take care of my well being because I’ve lost a lot of opportunities I’ll never be able to get back because of how I treated myself. I could’ve been a State level cross country runner but here I am as a senior writing this without achieving that goal. But not only did I miss out on that, I know my 3.5 cumulative GPA will affect me while trying to get to college. My dream school is Cal State University of San Marcos which costs eight thousand dollars a year. I am in a family of six, and I know tuition will be near impossible to afford without loans. If I had focused on school my first 2 years I could’ve had opportunities for more scholarships and really achieved the dream of being a NCAA division 2 runner for San Marcos but instead, I must work harder to reach my aspirations.
In conclusion, I would tell myself to treat the freshmen Jayson how I treat myself now. I worked hard junior year and got a 4.0 both semesters, became Santana's best-ever mile runner, all while taking three AP classes this year. I fixed how I hydrate and drink around a gallon of water a day as well as started getting a minimum of 9 hours of sleep every night. I know this improvement was colossal but I also know that I’ll always have that regret for the rest of my life. However, these experiences I put myself through changed and matured me into the person I am now and got me to where I am today.