Growth, Uninterrupted by Mirae

Growth, Uninterrupted by Mirae - January 2022 Scholarship Essay

I developed the ability to maintain a resilient mindset, one that could sustain me through the fluctuating circumstances of 2021. As I progressed through the school year, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic presented countless barriers to my education, from transitioning between remote learning to in-person classes to finding my voice and place in a community that I was not familiar with. Through these hardships, I learned to maintain an open perspective, adapting to changing circumstances and always offering compassion and empathy before judgement. The entire school year may as well be viewed as a test of endurance, as I found myself constantly having to change plans and alter my decisions based on events that were out of control. However, through the power of resilience, of maintaining a positive outlook on life as well as supportive relationships with others, I managed to succeed in this harrowing environment.
As the 2020-2021 school year began, doubts began to creep in. Would reducing the student body that was present in school to half its population be enough? Would teachers be able to adapt to the hybrid style of learning we had adopted? What other challenges could we have to face where virtually all we knew was thrown into disarray? I was only one among the many that voiced these concerns, and these individual thoughts coalesced into an overwhelming tidal wave of anxiety. Yet as it typically does, life moved on. The expected was dealt with, and the unexpected was also handled, in a surprisingly smooth manner. Teachers and students alike worked overtime to handle minor crises and forgiveness was abundant; on a deeper level, we each understood that all of us had to compensate immensely for the reality-altering occurrence that was the pandemic.
Struggle was inevitable at first. I constantly felt like I was on the verge of falling down the slippery slope of missed deadlines and procrastination; my world had shrunk to the interior of my house and anything beyond its walls seemed completely disconnected from the reality that I was living in. Yet, I endured. Some days, I hesitated to get out of bed, but the notion of future me saying with certainty “I did it, I have passed this trial with everything intact” was the light that I incessantly chased. Thus, I never lost sight of the important: strong relationships with teachers and other students, maintaining interest in my classes, and being involved in my community, to the extent that was possible. Additionally, I came to realize that even isolated physically, I was not alone. Others were facing the same struggle, and I empathized with many of my peers and even teachers early on as we learned how to navigate new circumstances and variable changes together. Even if it was through lagging Zoom calls and blurry video cameras, the connection was invariably there. Resilience goes hand in hand with community, an acknowledgement that no one is ever truly alone. In 2021, my world shrunk, but I learned how to grow beyond my own walls.