Defining Moments by Mallary

Defining Moments by Mallary - August 2014 Scholarship Essay

Life is a list of moments, be they failures or successes, every moment defines the person you are. I played softball for 8 years, I was never on fantastic teams so many games ended in failure. The person I am now is not afraid of losing, trying again and hoping to succeed.

I did well in high school, taking a variety of classes and pushing myself to be challenged in high level math and science. By the time I got to my senior year I was taking Calculus. I thought I could handle it, but about a month after school started I got health complications from the stress of the class. I couldn’t sleep properly and ended up developing TMD. TMD is where the disc between your upper and lower jaws pops out of place, leaving the jaw ‘locked’ closed. After I got the diagnosis I decided to switch out of calculus. In order to take a different level math class I would have had to switch out of my science class. I am going into genetics, so I chose to keep my science class and not take any math my senior year.

This summer when I took the math placement tests for college I got very low scores. I had forgotten all of the Pre-calculus I had taken my junior year and was now behind in math for college. This was my failure. I was going to start college behind in math and chemistry because I couldn’t handle calculus in high school. My academic advisor at the University of Arizona assured me that I could take a summer math course and if I received an A, B or C that I would be qualified and ready for the fall semester. I took Pre-calculus the second session of summer school. Five credits in just about 5 weeks. It was exhausting, but I finished with a 99% in homework, 95% in quizzes and an A on both tests.

The lesson I learned by failing is that even if the odds are stacked against me and I have to do something unpleasant, I can do it. I can succeed even in tough college classes. This whole experience gave me confidence for college and made me remember that failure isn’t completely negative.