What One Friend Taught Me by Kiva

What One Friend Taught Me by Kiva - May 2015 Scholarship Essay

Being home-schooled, I do not have many peers. There are a limited amount of people I see on a regular basis. Some of the most important people to me, and the ones who have had the most impact on me, are the kids from my church youth group, most of who are in public school. One friend in particular has been a real influence on me. Although my academic experiences are much different from hers, one thing I have learned from watching her throughout our high school experience is the value of hard work concerning your education.
There is nothing more important than a good work ethic. That means working hard, putting in your every effort, and being honest in every detail. Every week, my church youth group would have dinner together, to fellowship and enjoy each other’s company. As we got into high school, some became busy with school or work and could not make it to the meetings anymore. However, one friend really inspired me by how hard she worked, and how she managed to get everything done that she needed to and still make it to our meetings.
Although my friend was born in the United States, her parents were from Indonesia. They lived in America for quite a while before, but because of certain circumstances they had to move back to their homeland. My friend, however, was able to come back to the U.S. for high school, and she did, choosing to live with her older sister, away from her parents, in order to get a better education and have the chance to go to college in America. She is very smart and wants to become an engineer. This meant she had to keep her grades up, and it was not easy. Her teachers would assign hours of homework each night. Often she would show up at our meetings with a binder and laptop in hand, so that she could do her homework and still be with us. She managed to juggle her schoolwork with our youth group meetings, as well as playing on the soccer team and working part-time, and she even took dual credit classes online during the summer. Now she is about to graduate, and has been accepted to the University of Texas at Austin. I have seen how hard she works, and how diligent she is in her learning. She never slacks off, even when it would have been more fun to just go goof off. She is focused and hard-working, and I know that she will succeed in college.
Watching her has inspired me to work harder. I want to get into a good college and be confident that I can succeed. I have learned to be diligent in my schoolwork, and to take pride in my education. My workload was considerably less than hers, and I am not facing all the challenges she is. However, that does not mean that I have not learned to work hard. I know that studying is important, and that turning in your work on time shows diligence. I know that education is the key to success in life, and that is takes hard work. All these things you hear from your teachers and parents, but seeing it in a friend can really impact you. Seeing it in my friend showed me how important working hard is, and it inspired me to do the same with my own schoolwork.
A good work ethic is something that is crucial for college, and for life. So many teens today just want to live a life of all play and no work. They do not consider how this will affect them in the future. My friend inspired me by being so diligent and persevering in her education. She showed me not only how to succeed in school, but also how to succeed in life. She is a role model to me- she constantly inspires me to work harder, work more, work better.