Giving up is not an option and will never be an option. by Makayla

Giving up is not an option and will never be an option. by Makayla - December 2022 Scholarship Essay

A lesson that I learned in 2022 that will impact me in 2023 is that giving up was not and will never be an option. I have found myself in a deep hole that I felt was impossible to climb out of due to home stress and school responsibilities. I am the oldest of four siblings, meaning that I have to ensure that they understand the assignments that they are given at school, cook dinner plates for them, and make sure that they are taken care of before I can dive deep into my school assignments. I have always been a great role model for my younger siblings because I show them that no matter how difficult the task may be they need to continue working on it until the very end.

My senior year of high school involved applying to scholarships, colleges, while balancing my school work and outside activities. Although there were times where I felt heavy self-doubt due to large amounts of stress, I still managed to complete all of my assignments on time, attend study sessions, and do my chores. I have come far in my high school career from being on the principal's honor roll, A & B honor roll, and participating in extracurricular activities. However, there were major events that happened during my school career such as covid-19 that caused a lot of my motivation to vanish. I still pushed myself to complete all my assignments and by the end of my sophomore year I received an honor roll.

My junior year of high school which was my most stressful and packed year consisted of me taking the SAT test. I studied very hard and long for the SAT. I would practice day and night at Khan academy. Unfortunately, I scored very low on the SAT, not only causing me self-doubt but also making me lose a lot of motivation. This was an awful self defeat that wouldn't stop me from continuing to push even harder on my school work. I didn’t allow my test score to define me or my work ethnic so I used that as a motivation push for me to receive As and Bs in all of my classes.

Based on the various hardships that I have had in high school i let it be my motivation to push harder in my classes and to receive the best grades that I could. The best advice that I was given was that giving up was not an option and will never be an option. I knew that this lesson would not only carry me through 2023 but it would carry me through my entire life. My persistence character has resulted in me being a role model at school and at home. I am the definition of persistence.