Three patches by Kiet

Three patches by Kiet - February 2017 Scholarship Essay

Three tears and three patches, that’s all it takes for me to realize my strengths and desires. This stuffed bumblebee once comforted me, but now mirrors my development as an individual. Painful and inspirational, each patch is laid over a wound, which helps create the person I am.
The first notable patch I’ve made is on the joint of the bee’s right side where my scar lies. It all started on a significant day, the day of my last race in middle school. The referee had called up the 100-meter hurdles and I was in the first heat. Heart racing, sweat dropping, legs wobbling – as nervous as I was, I was determined to win. As I prepared myself into a starting position, my body stiffened. “Runners… get set… Go!” I was off. I jumped the first and second hurdle with ease, but the third became a problem. As I lifted my right leg up and over, my tail leg got caught. I flew one foot and skidded six inches on my waist. Humiliated and ashamed, I had failed one of the simplest tasks that I was good at. The race ended. In pain, limping, bleeding, and agonizing, the logical thing to do was to walk off the track, but I didn’t. I didn’t listen to logic, I didn’t listen to doubts, I didn’t listen to pain – all I was aware of was my determination. I pushed myself up from the ground and ran those last seven hurdles. Ever since then, I had always bounced in the presence of challenges and I had always seen failure as a motivation to keep moving.
The second patch is on his neck where my voice lies. The transition into high school was difficult and heart breaking. My parents decided to move to Texas for a better opportunity. Friends that I could rely on and family members that were by my side gone and I never once voiced my opinion. Days felt like years, goodbyes felt permanent, and hugs felt like heartbreaks. As I started high school, I was a mute. I never made friends in the first two months because I was afraid of losing relationships again. I had doubts and became increasingly shy. That was the case until my English teacher, Mrs. Nunez, made me speak in class. I cried, pleaded, and reasoned, but all she heard were excuses. She called my name and I shared, I shared my thoughts, my opinions, and my voice. It was the first time I heard applause and compliments. From that day forward, I have always tried my best to take advantage of opportunities that allow me to speak in public. I went from speaking to myself to teaching freshmen as an aide, to teaching teachers at the National Drop Out Prevention Convention, and to presenting a scholarship speech to three thousand students and alumni. I learned that my voice, my opinion, and my emotions do matter and I can’t be afraid to express them.
The third patch was located on the back where my work lies. School had never been fun and games. Since I was in middle school, I always dreamed of going to college, but feared I wouldn’t make it. “You have to be really smart or have a lot of money,” my peers told me. That only fueled my horror. My parents didn’t have the money to fund my college and neither of them had graduated high school. I was left with one option: academics. English became increasingly challenging. It was my third language and was underdeveloped. To add to the difficulty, my middle school English teacher gave me hundreds because she had no interest in reading my cursive handwriting. I was walking into high school with the knowledge of a sixth grader, but of course, I took honors. It would occasionally take backbreaking work, late night studying, and hours upon hours of reading just to understand a “simple text.” Ever since then, I’ve made great strides from straight A’s in sophomore English to passing the AP exam. I have never deemed myself as smart, but as a hard worker. I became a determined person and put forth all my efforts in achieving what I want.
In short, these three patches represent the person who I developed into today. The first patch represents my grit, bouncing when I hit failure. The second patch represents my voice, the ability to share my opinion and overcome my shyness. The third patch represents my determination in school and life. Each patch situates strength over weakness, grit over pain, and courage over fear. Placing my bee back on the shelf, I notice a few developing tears. The patches to these will no doubt be fostered in college.