Soak it In by Jessica

Soak it In by Jessica - November 2014 Scholarship Essay

It’s the year 2014 and in seven short months I will be graduating high school. I will be walking across a stage, shaking my principals hand, and receiving my diploma. I will hug all my friends and even shed a few tears. We all know in a couple more months we will all be going our separate ways. We have all chosen different schools, different majors, and different life pathways. For once in four years we will not all be together anymore.

With that being said, looking back over the past four years at all the memories I have made, all the tears I have shed, all the augments that have taken place, after everything that has happened, the main thing that I learned was: to soak it all in. From the first basketball game or first dance of freshman year to walking across that stage your senior year, soak everything in because before you know it, it will all be over. Take a big step back and look at the big picture. The small things that seem so big to you now, will not matter in the upcoming years. No one is going to remember that you aced or failed that biology test freshman year. If you make a mistake, don’t dwell on it, move forward. If you make a bad grade, try harder next time and if you can’t do anymore than you're already doing, don’t sweat it. Like I said, it’s not going to matter in the upcoming years. Remember, your friends, family, and teachers are there to help you—don’t be afraid to ask for it. Branch out, don’t feel like you have to be confined to one friend group, meet new people and enjoy their company. Break the stereotypes and the cliques. Just because someone seems a little quirky or alternative and you have more of a preppy physique does not mean that you guys could not become close friends. Most importantly be who you are and do not change for anyone. High school makes it hard enough to try and figure out who you are; if you listen to other people and let them determine who you are supposed to be, then later on down the road, when you leave high school and are no longer surrounded by those people you are trying to impress you won’t know who you truly are.

When you become a senior, people will ask you questions like “what is the most important thing you have learned in high school” or “what advice can you give the new freshmen” and most answers will involve studying or keeping your GPA up and being involved. My answer on the other hand is not any of those things, it’s to just soak it all in and enjoy every second of it. High school is supposed to be one of the best times of your life. If you spend all of that time worrying over a test score that isn’t going to matter in a few weeks or about who is going to win homecoming queen, things that do not matter in the big scheme of things, you're going to miss out. Soak it all in, it’ll be over before you know it.