Challenges on a College Campus by Joseph

Challenges on a College Campus by Joseph - April 2020 Scholarship Essay

"What am I gaining from this experience?" Each morning I asked myself this question as I slogged up the 195 stairs to get to my university's campus. I had felt exhilarated by the prospect of finally attending college at the beginning of the semester. Classes couldn't come fast enough and I was sure my grade percentage would match my attitude. After all, I was attending the same school as my parents and older siblings, had a job on campus, and some great friends nearby.

But nothing really happens the way we expect. Day after day I woke up early for work, then rushed to my classes which became increasingly incomprehensible. The phrase "clear as mud" took on a whole new meaning as my professors droned on and on about outdated political theories. My grades slipped bit by bit and, unfortunately, my job didn't. Work became more demanding and coworkers and friends started to get on my nerves.

My initial and sequential college experience is not unique. I can promise that anyone who attends college will, at some point, have reason to ask themselves what it's all about and why they should stick with it. The first reasons we all hear and think of first have to do with the importance of learning, the necessity of a degree to qualify for a good job, and pervasive belief that college brings people success. But when you're in the middle of it, these reasons just don't seem to cut it. I have decided to remain in college for a different reason. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "It's not the destination, it's the journey." I firmly believe that. Higher education is certainly not the only path or the only option that leads towards success. Rather, it provides sufficient difficulties to create adults out of children. The challenges and disappointments that young adults experience in college provide practice for real life.

Ultimately, I do believe that attending college is important. It is important because it helps us learn. But college doesn't just teach us useless facts about history or mathematics, it helps us learn how to push through challenges and overcome. It teaches us how to work with other people even when we would rather not. And it shows us a way of life that includes constant challenges. Attending college gives us an opportunity to reach the destination of success by travelling on a journey filled with difficulty. And, in the end, even the stairs I took towards my classes each morning were only lifting me higher.