How I Learned That Academic Success Isn't Everything by Marissa

How I Learned That Academic Success Isn't Everything by Marissa - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

I grew up as the middle child out of three children, and I was always the most quiet and responsible one. My older brother and younger sister were always more bold and carefree than I was. This was more stressful when I got to high school, because I knew that my academic success for the next four years would determine if I could go to college. As you can guess, my responsible self sat at home every night to study, while my older brother went out with his friends and had fun, and still held up fairly good grades.
My junior year of high school, I decided to be a mat maid for our school's wrestling team. My older brother, Tyler, and I grew much closer during that time since he was the star wrestler of the team. We started making mutual friends through wrestling, so I discovered how he and his friends focused on having a fun time throughout high school. I started going out with Tyler and his friends and realized that academics aren't all there is to high school, and that there's actually time to have fun. One time while I was stressed over schoolwork, I asked him,"How do you do it? How do you live a life of pure fun and games and still make good grades? Do you never get stressed or worried?" He told me that he got stressed over school more often than I saw, he just didn't let the stress consume his life. He also brought up that we have our whole lives to work and be stressed. He said,"High school is the last chance you have to live for yourself: no children, no spouses, no bills, no loans; might as well go out with a bang." I started to realize that it's not all about grades and tests. When any child asks their parents about their high school experience, you never hear them talk about the grades they made. They talk about the football games, yearbook signing, and all the other fun memories. I made a promise to myself to not kill myself over schoolwork for the rest of high school. I still do my best to make good grades, but mostly it's about making memories.
Even though Tyler is living in Virginia and attending college, we still maintain our close relationship. He was right about having fun in high school, because he has no time for fun with his load of college work. I can't thank him enough for making me realize that my academic success doesn't define me as a person, and that I deserve to have fun while I'm still young.