Time Is of The Essence by Kelsie

Time Is of The Essence by Kelsie - September 2014 Scholarship Essay

There I was, eleven o’clock p.m, pounding on my laptop keyboard. I was frantically trying to finish my essay that had to be to be submitted in approximately one hour.

“This essay won’t be perfect, but at least it will be completed and turned in.” I thought to myself. This was the “I don’t really care” mindset I had developed somewhere during my junior year of high school.

Being a junior in highschool I was very busy. I somehow had to make time for practice (I play softball year round), speed training, time to practice playing my instruments, chores, finish my homework on time, and have a social life. Juggling all these activities in just 24 hours was seemingly impossible. Before I knew it, my grades started to slip a little bit. Not bad, but enough to get me in trouble at home. Then to make matters worse, my performance on the softball field even started to worsen.

All of this happening just caused me a lot of stress. Anxiety was something I had dealt with my whole life, but now I was dealing with it in extremes. It was simply not possible to find time for everything I was supposed to do, therefore, what was the point in doing it. My family had begun to notice the change in my behavior and brought it up to me a couple times, but I refused to talk about it and simply waved them off.

I must have continued to get worse, because one night my parents sat me down and forced me to tell them what I was feeling. I began to explain my stress level, anxiety, and lack of determination in everything I did. My mom then suggested that I start learning to manage my time. I then started to plan out my schedule, making it organized but flexible. I assigned different activities to different days and allowed some “me” time to stay motivated and stress free. After a while I didn't have to plan out my schedule anymore, and could make time for everything without feeling overwhelmed. For the most part, I was more energized, determined, and much happier.

Learning to manage my time to get things done has helped me alot. I am less stressed and can handle a lot more responsibilities without being overwhelmed. I now feel confident that I will be successful in college because I am able to manage my time and take on more responsibilities.