Purpose by Jessica

Purpose by Jessica - August 2013 Scholarship Essay

            My junior year Advanced Placement Language and Composition class taught me who I am. If I had been told that one class could literally change my life, I would have laughed. Never before had a class had such a significant and personal impact. And as I look back, I realize that without my language class, I would not be who I am today.
            Mrs. Allen, my teacher, posed an extraordinary question to the class on the first day of school. “What is your purpose in life?” She asked us to analyze ourselves and search for the meaning and purpose in our lives alone. The giant picture of planet earth in the front of the class, made us truly aware of the size of our everyday “problems” in comparison to the size of the world, and universe as we know it.
            The enigma presented to me on the first day of school never went away. Every assignment focused on our personal beliefs; they focused on god, on love, on pain, on self. And the more I began to dig within myself, the more I realized I do not have all the answers. In fact, I found more questions. When I had finally begun collecting and making sense of my ideas and philosophies, a tragedy brought me to my knees.
             A close friend of mine had been involved in a car accident that placed him in a coma. My world was in shambles. The monument of my personal beliefs had cracked and was beginning to crumble apart. I asked myself, “How can God allow bad things to happen to good people?” I went to Mrs. Allen. She showed me that life is unpredictable and fragile. And that all events have purpose, just like all people. I realized that no one person is born knowing their life’s purpose. It is something that has to be learned through pain and recovery, through searching inside of oneself.
            My language and composition class opened my eyes to a world of questions, wonder, and self-examination. It made me not only question my beliefs, but who I was and what my goals in life were. I believe that this is the most important lesson one can learn because if one doesn’t truly know who they are, what their purpose is, and what they believe in, they are no greater than a fish in a fishbowl. But these types of lessons never end as people continue to change and grow, and question their purpose. Because of my language class, I am forever challenging my beliefs and discovering my purpose.