Crunch Time by Monique

Crunch Time by Monique - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

High school was fun and it was my senior year. Time was coming to an end because I was less than three weeks away from receiving my diploma. I checked with teachers and guidance counselors twice a week to make sure I was on track. As things seem to be going well, something came up that put strain on closing out a fun senior year. Our school's vice principle at the time called each senior individually to tell them frightening news. As it was my turn, I walked into her office and sat down. She asked how I was doing and was I ready to graduate. As small talk ended, she called my aunt who was my guardian at the time and told both of us "there has been a mistake in our system to where your child will have to retake sixty percent of a class in order to graduate. We are sorry for this complication, but her economic class she took last semester did not count towards her credits to graduate." This was heartbreaking because I thought I was on track to graduate. I had about three weeks to take a semester worth of economics I took in the fall.

This was hard for our entire senior class because nobody didn't expect to have this error come up in such a short period left for grades to be locked into the system. In order to pass the class they wanted us to complete sixty percent of the work. The last day for seniors was May 1st and this was announced on April 9th. I decided besides only completing sixty percent of the course work to do a hundred percent because I didn't want anything else to interfere with my graduation status. I only had four classes my senior year and everyday after class I would head to the library and complete one chapter. Each chapter was worth about seven percent I would get off the bus and complete another chapter at my house everyday until May 1st.

As days got closer to due date things started to add up because I had to take an extra class I already completed on top of my school work. It was frustrating considering the fact that the school system couldn't do anything to help but motivate us to finish as much as we can before May 1st. I dedicated my last month of school juggling my classes and this extra economics class to receive my diploma. It was a tough process to know one class could decide rather or not you graduated or not. I was blessed to finish my classes in time with a hundred percent completed to be qualified for my diploma. It aspired me that any adversity that came my way I was able to persevere through it all. It prepared me for future academic challenges I will face throughout my educational journey.