Inspiration in the classroom by lisa

Inspiration in the classroom by lisa - August 2013 Scholarship Essay

 In 2009 I got into a ivy league school, the legendary Howard University. So estacic I even cried a little from relief from the process and happiness. I had put a lot of effort into getting accepted. Once I started and the reality hit that that effort I displayed to get in had to be carried through until i graduated I crashed. I became overwhelemed."What was I doing at a school like this?". "I belong somewhere else, I am not smart enough". Negative thoughts raced through my mind daily until I had a relapse. Sadly, I had an emotional break down followed by a two day hiatus at the college hospital where I was injected with sodium and other things to bring me back to health. I was emotionally drained and very upset at myself and the situation. I missed many of my classes. After leaving the hospital I began counseling at the college and saw a counselor every week of school, sometimes twice. It was painful, the thoughts that I was battling. The foundation I grew up on was not an emotionally stable one. In fact it was the oppsite, emotionally abusive, a detached guardian, and deceased parents. No one ever told me I could do it and I did not believe that I could. The internal battle of negative thoughts were so overpowering that a year later, I left the college, 10,000 in debt and only 30 credits passed to show for my stress, worry, and effort.
 That was a sad and emotional time of my life, yet I learned more in that year than any other year. It was at Community College of Philadelphia that I would be told the one thing that wouuld propel my future and assist me in obtaining my goals no matter what the circumstance. It was not the anatomy of the body or how the pitituary gland dispurses chemicals to help the body function, it was more simplicstic yet powerful. Something that would be the center of everything else that occured in my life. Something that would determine how far I would go. The power of positive thinking.
 She was my Spanish teacher, the same women who would inspire me to go to Peru two years later for study abroad. Very flamboyant and eccentric, she would grace us with her presence each day with a long flowing dress on usually equipped with flowers and bright red lipstick. She was vivacious and the class fed off of her energy. This thinking has changed my life. I begin keeping gratitude journals, engaging in yoga and mediation, and taking 15 minutes out of each day to be thankful for the things I have and visulizing where I see myself being. Everything became an opportunity. I did not and now do not let my condition determine where I would go. I have a vision and I stick to it. In just one year I completed college with my Associates degree, got a car, went to Peru to study Spanish and Canada with my sisters, got the new job I wanted that paid much more than my old job, and got accepted into the college I originally wanted to attend, West Chester University.
 I am studying to become a registered dietian and am equipped with the mindset to get there. Once your mind is in the right place, everything else will fall into place. God bless Professor Vatikki Vellar for giving me those few words of wisdom to change my life and propel my personal and career goals.