What I Wish I Knew Back Then by Molly

What I Wish I Knew Back Then by Molly - April 2016 Scholarship Essay

Growing up the one thing on everyone's minds is what their future holds. What will they become one day and how they will take those massive steps to adulthood. It can be scary to think about growing up and moving out on your own. When I was high school there was so many times I failed. I was very worried about what I would become. There are some things that I wish I would have known going into high school and my early years of college. One of those things would have been that it is not easy. Nothing about becoming the best person you can be is, or should be a simple task. Another thing that would have greatly helped me get through high school is grades are not everything. You need to actually learn and get something out of what you are being taught as opposed to just studying for the grade. The final thing I wish I would have known is that life may not always work out the way you planned, life changes and plans change. If someone would have told me those things the road towards who I am today would have been a little less rocky.

When trying to pursue the best life possible for yourself, good things are not going to just be handed to you. One must put in hard work to receive results. If you want a 4.0 in high school you cannot expect it to just fall into your lap. Studying and effort will be the first steps in the right direction. Kids that don't put in the time to be successful will simply not succeed at the same rate as those who give their all. It isn't always a perfect system, sometimes you will try your absolute hardest and you still might fail. Failing is just a part of life. If everyone gave up the first time they failed we wouldn't have great heroes, inventors, or the amazing athletes that we do. Do your absolute best in everything and that will set you up to be the best version of you.

The second thing that would have been helpful to understand is that grades don't define who you are. Sometimes you study for hours and end up with the same grade as the kids who did not even open the text book. This sad, but very true phenomenon happens all the time. Just because you do not do well after you put the work in does not mean you did not deserve a good grade. When you begin to mature in life you realize that you can't be the best at everything. You were not born to be perfect, everyone messes up. People are more than just a letter grade on a paper, does that "C" show a kid struggling at home who barely has enough food to eat? Or does a shining "A" show a girl who is pushed vigorously by her parents to always be number one, no. This letter does not show us what is behind the person who took the test, or wrote that paper. Grades are a way of measuring your ability to learn the content you are being taught, not everything that you know.

The final thing I wish someone would have told me about growing up is that your plans for your future are not always going to remain the same. Plans change, people change, life changes. If you look in the mirror today and think back at what it felt like to look in the mirror when you were 12, the feeling is very different. You have grown and changed so much, you are no longer a care free little kid. Today you may be a lawyer, or a doctor. 12 year old you may have never wanted to be those things but you grew up and your interests changed. Not only can your job change, but the school you thought you were going to pursue that job may change too. I was supposed to go to a division one school and play volleyball, but now I am at a division three school not playing any sports and I am hard at work tutoring elementary students. My life turned as fast as a racing curveball, I never imagined I would be where I am today. Despite all the drastic changes I am happy. I stopped worrying so much about what I should have been and let myself become who I was truly supposed to be.

If I would have known that life is not going to be easy, and that you have to work for every chance you get I would have seen things much differently. If I would have been told that a grades on paper do not define who I really am I would have been so much happier and more proud of my hard work. If I understood that change and growth are ok and to not fight it, I would have been a lot more excited about my future today. If I was sitting with a younger student I would love to share these things and much more with them. What I wish I knew back then is that you can do incredible things if you work hard, stop worrying so much, and let yourself become the incredible individual that you were meant to be.