Making my Mark by Karla

Making my Mark by Karla - January 2024 Scholarship Essay

Throught my entire life, I have watched celebrities, great inventors and other notable figures in history make their mark in ways that most could only dream of. From the moment that I watched this whether that be in history books or in my television screen,I knew I had to do the same. I knew I had to make an impact that outlasted me and that made it known that I was someone worth noting. I grew up trying to find my place in extracurriculars and hope to make my mark there. Yet, for a long time, I had no luck, I struggled to fit in or to find interest in the typical sports and activities that usually brought people together. However, that changed once I entered High School, I started meeting new people in a new environment and joining new activities in which I encouraged new people to join and tried to get more and more people to join and become more involved in extracurriculars. I helped bring different communities of people together in a way that helped expand smaller clubs into more well known communities that are not only fun, but advantageous to join. I encouraged more involvement in my community which has brought me closer to many in my community as well as allowed for such unique and unforgettable memories that we will all treasure forever. This impact was especially visible in my joining my schools marching band color guard, throught m entrance, I was able to bring more visibility to the program and even encouraged others to join. I am in a position in which I know I have influence in my community and I want to be able to bring it to other places as well. I want to organize more community service events to bring more and more people together in a way that allows them to not only learn more about themselves but about the people around them. Through my years in high school I have attended many events in which I either volunteered or helped organize and it has allowed me to not only get to know more people around me but to get to know the state of my community and the way I can use my voice to encourage possible social change.
Words and word of mouth are so much more powerful than we give them credit for and I have used that knowledge to my advantage in terms of pushing myself further and others around me as well. My impact in my community hasn't been through a grand event that changed hearts and minds but rather a small and slow process that has and continues to encourage others to push themselves beyond what they think is possible and rub off on others. I hope that I can continue making this kind of impact for a long time but even if I can’t I know that this change will expand and evolve in ways that I can’t possibly imagine.