Applying to Graduate Schools by Kelly

Applying to Graduate Schools by Kelly - May 2014 Scholarship Essay

While applying for graduate school last year I received the best educational advice that I have ever been given. The suggestion was simply this: that I should apply to at least two schools that I thought were beyond my reach. At the time, I thought this advice was ridiculous and that my application fees would be a waste of money. However, as the months wore on, I began to entertain the notion that there might be a possibility that I could be accepted to one of these two schools. Slowly, I began to consider my academic strengths, and resolved that the worst that could happen would be to not be accepted by either. I ended up deciding to follow the advice, and among the other schools that I applied to, two were Ivy League schools.

The recommendation that I apply to these two schools turned out to be one of the most invaluable pieces of advice I have ever received in all of my life. Thanks to this suggestion, I can now say that I have been accepted to graduate programs at two of the top universities in the country. As a result of this guidance, I am enrolled this fall at a school that I never would have dreamt I’d have the opportunity to attend. Even more importantly, however, this advice changed my life because it shifted the entire way that I saw myself. It made me see for the first time that I had been shortchanging myself in so many ways. In general, I had not been giving myself enough credit for all that I had accomplished, nor had I been fully challenging myself.

This experience has instilled in me a new confidence and positive mindset. It wasn’t the fact that I had been accepted to two Ivy League schools; I could have been rejected, and this shift still would have occurred. Instead, it was the fact that I had challenged myself in a way that I never had before. It was liberating to step out of my comfort zone and to think myself worthy of the best. I felt a huge amount of pride merely in the act of submitting my applications. This experience has taught me to relentlessly pursue dreams that seem impossible. Now, when taking on new challenges, I push myself regardless of any self-doubt that may arise. I acknowledge any fear that may be present, but I don’t let that fear get in my way. I know that it is impossible to be successful in every endeavor that I embark on, but as eloquently put by Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, “It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideal, but it is a disaster to have no ideal to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is a sin”.