In This Moment by Kelly

In This Moment by Kelly - November 2014 Scholarship Essay

During my sophomore year, my grandma became very ill. I remember watching her health decline more and more. She was the person who had taken care of me and my brother every summer for the past ten years. She had baked cookies for us and put band-aids on our knees when we fell. When she became ill, I realized that I had not valued her as much as I could have. Instead of going on bike rides to the park and experiencing my own tastes of freedom, I could have sat down and spent time talking with her. After I realized the severity of the situation, I began sitting down with my grandma and actually visiting her with the time I had left. When she died, the stark reality that life isn't forever hit me like a brick.

They tell us to "stop and smell the roses," but who does that really pertain to anymore? I, like many others, used to wish for the dazzling future to come racing towards me. I shared sentiment of "I just want to get out of here and go to college" that I hear echoed through the halls. We all just want to grow up so quickly. When I heard "Four more years!" chanted to me as a freshman at the pep assemblies, I thought about how terrible it is to be a freshman. Looking back at my experiences as a senior, I know that life doesn't last forever and it's not something to simply wish away.

When I walk through the hallways, it pains me to see others grumble about their "todays." There is only one today. The Tortoise and the Hare teaches students that "slow and steady wins the race," and it's true. If people only look towards the future and race their lives away, there will be no enjoyment. I remember wishing for the glamorous high school life when I was in middle school, yet the people in high school only wish to be in college. Time is not worth wishing away. We only have one today.

I wish that I had taken the advice to "smell the roses" as a freshman. I should have heeded the warnings of my predecessors and spent more time enjoying what I had instead of wishing for what I could have had. I now make a conscious effort to make every "today" something worth living and it elevates the way I live as well as brings a smile to others around me. My advice to any incoming freshmen would be to not wish the next four years away or take the present for granted. Keep in mind that today was once that golden, sought out future, so endeavor to make every single day extraordinary. There is only so much time in a life, so don't wish it away.