Are you willing to open the door? by Ngoc Trinh Nguyen

Are you willing to open the door? by Ngoc Trinh Nguyen - December 2013 Scholarship Essay

Everyone have this special thing that they love to do, whether it’ a sport, a club or read a book. My special something is Student Council. As a member of this group, my eyes were open up to a diversity group of people and personality. For the past four year of my high school experience, I have been with the same 30 classmates respectively because of the classes that I take. I was not an outgoing girl and I kept to my own bubble. However, Student Council changed me.

This experience actually came to me as a surprise. I never had the intent to run for Student Council because I did not have the confidence in myself. However, I’m glad that this opportunity came because it opened a new doorway for me. As a Senior Class President, I know the feeling of the pressure very well from all the activities that I have to manage and with all the opinions that I have to listen to. Before, I had kept to my bubble but now, I have to interact with others. This experience made me open up; now, I can tell them my honest feeling. I realize that before I cannot open myself to anyone. I don’t like having my feelings expose for people to see. I did not want anyone to see the feeble side of me; I only want them to see a strong girl that can handle anything. Now that I think about it, I actually put up a façade. I could not trust anyone. Today, I had learned to trust.

My job description includes planning the Homecoming dance, the Senior Christmas Party, the Senior Breakfast and creating and ordering the seniors shirt and hoodie, not to mention to keep everyone on their toes. I have lot of responsibilities on my shoulder but as a leader, I learned how to split the burden. I assigned my group members each a job and a deadline which they have to report to me by. I had sought what everyone specialty was and I use it to my advantage to make the events as complete and as satisfying as possible. I learn to trust in them to do the work. Before, I could never split the work because I believed they would not do it the way I want or they would do it wrong. I wanted everything to be perfect. I had learned put my faith in them to get it done. They had never disappointed me; thus, I have slowly accepted that people can be trusted.

In the future, I will not hold up façade. Student Council members taught me that my mask is not needed. When I bare my feelings to them, it does not mean that I’m weak; it means that trust them enough to show it to them. They had become a doorway for me to learn to have in others. They taught what I needed most, the ability to trust others.