What happened in November by Kamryn

What happened in November by Kamryn - December 2022 Scholarship Essay

The definition of the word 'lessons' is, 'an amount of teaching given at one time'. Which when I look back over the last year I can remember hundreds of times I felt overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious about a situation, but it ended up teaching me in the end. One of the biggest things that changed my perspective on a lot of things was when my grandpa passed away. It was sudden and unexpected, and we had two days to mentally prepare ourselves with all the information we where given at once. It wasn't because we didn't beg for answers, or go to the ER constantly to figure out what was wrong. It was because someone in the lab lost his biopsy sample, and never said anything until it was too late.
Even though I didn't do anything myself, I had to witness things I never thought I would have to. I learned to never take a single moment for granted, and to hold onto your loved ones tighter then normal. This world isn't fair, and you never know when someone who you called all the time, someone who aired up your tires, someone who bought you books and tools, would be taken from you. I was too caught up in myself to take time out of my day to spend some time with the people who cared and loved me the most. I was too excited to have my own apartment, a good job, and be doing good in school to care about anything else.
Since then, things have not been easy. I have had to learn to adjust quickly to a different situation then what I might've originally planned. I have had to buckle down and work more and more to pay school off at East Central to save for the next chapter of my education career. I had to grow up, and sadly it took someone I cared about tremendously for me to realize that I wasn't a kid anymore.
Since last November, I have changed jobs and moved houses. I became a dog mom and learned how to take care of someone else needs beside my own. I have changed my mindset of "its just me doing everything myself" to "I have amazing people in my corner to help me reach my goals". My goal for 2023 is to work hard on my education, and to make it count for something bigger then myself. The goals I have set for myself now might seem unreachable some days, but everyday is one day closer to reaching them. I want to have good grades, to be financially stable and to have good and healthy relationships with people I love and care about.
In the end, all the heartbreak the last year has taught me more then I could've ever thought it could. I was too caught up in how sad and angry I was to see how much my grandpa taught me about life. To angry to realize I was doing everything in the time I needed to, not the time I had to.
My overall goal for 2023 is to be happy. I want to prove to myself that I can work hard and do great things. I don't have to have approval from everyone, as long as I make myself proud.