Leaving the World a Bit Better: My Road to Success by Kara

Leaving the World a Bit Better: My Road to Success by Kara - April 2024 Scholarship Essay

“To leave the world a bit better… to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived – This is to have succeeded.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I desire to achieve Ralph Waldo Emerson’s definition of success.

Service to my community has been ingrained in me since I joined American Heritage Girls at age 6. We quoted the oath at each meeting: "I promise to love God, cherish my family, honor my country, and serve in my community.” I am grateful to live this oath each day. I serve faithfully in my church and community and have 624 recorded service hours in high school, more unrecorded through serving at my church. But the service stars on my sash mean less about personal accomplishment and more about my life making a difference. They represent a smile from a patient in a nursing home, a tear from a medal of honor recipient as he sees me, the next generation, honoring the flag as part of the Allegiant Honor Guard; it means being reliable and caring. They mean I’m leaving the world a bit better and they are my motivation to succeed.
I’ve been through some struggles being teased and excluded as a child. That’s life, right? But I wouldn’t trade what I’ve learned through those struggles. They taught me empathy toward those who feel like outcasts. I am now more aware of the importance of inclusivity and understanding and I now actively seek opportunities to support and uplift those around me who might feel left out. In trying to prove myself to be accepted, what I found instead was my love of learning and what true friendship is. I am grateful for the struggles because, through them, I found that I am capable of much more than I would have imagined possible if accepted from the start.

At age fifteen, my hard work and love of learning have paid off, and I’ve accomplished a life goal of being accepted to Texas Christian University (TCU). I hope to attend this Fall to study speech-language pathology and, as a career, help those who struggle with communication. Although I have not personally faced speech difficulties, I have overcome struggles and learned the value of helping others and persevering through challenges. These valuable life lessons will be a strong foundation for my success in college and beyond. I am committed to continuing my education through at least a master’s degree to practice as a speech-language pathologist and to continue to make the world a bit better, one life at a time.

Even though attending TCU would be a dream come true, my greatest success will not be defined by the school I attend or the degree I earn but by what I do with the knowledge and opportunities that come my way. I aim to accept and encourage individuals, just as I have been accepted and encouraged, and help them envision who they can become. As I said before, my goal is to embody Ralph Waldo Emerson's definition of success: to leave the world better than I found it and know that I have helped people breathe a little easier, one life at a time. This is the source and heart of my focus and drive and my college education is the tool that will help me to achieve this goal.