"Keep Asking" by Nicholai

"Keep Asking" by Nicholai - November 2018 Scholarship Essay

Keep Asking

Throughout my years of high school, I learned that being persistent is one of the most important qualities for success in life. I started by proposing my idea of building a ski press to my shop teacher. I received a response that went like this, “Typically freshman can’t build their own projects.” I felt defeated, but I went home that day and did as much research on ski presses as I could. I looked at different designs and the materials needed. I drew up a plan, and brought it with me to wood shop class the next day. I showed my teacher, and once again he said “Typically freshman can’t build their own projects.” I felt defeated. I said to myself “Are you kidding me?” The one thing I’ve wanted since the sixth grade is gone, just like that. Why is it that freshman can’t build their own projects? I mean, “Seriously?!” By being persistent I convinced my teacher and school to help me build the press in the wood shop, even though I was only a freshman. Both my teacher and I have used the press the past two years to build skis and snowboards.
I was nominated for the Hugh O'Brien, also known as HOBY, youth leadership seminar
at Montana State University my sophomore year of high school. I had no idea what this seminar was about, nor did I have any experience with leadership seminars. It was an opportunity for which I never thought I'd be nominated. There are more than 260 students in my high school class, and only a handful are nominated to be considered for acceptance into this program. The requirement for this program was writing an essay that would be judged by the high school counselors. Only three contestant’s essays were chosen, and only one contestant was chosen for the full scholarship to the seminar. I felt so fortunate that I was chosen to receive the full scholarship, and the lesson I learned the day I received the scholarship news is to never give up and doubt yourself.
I have always struggled with learning languages, and recently I wanted to push myself by
studying a new language. My family and I worked on getting into language camps offered at
various locations across the country. I discovered that government funded language programs are
becoming more popular as communications spread from the United States to other countries
throughout the world. The government funded language programs are called “Startalk” . The
goal of Startalk is to provide youth with an opportunity to learn critical languages: Russian,
Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, and Turkish. At the end of my sophomore year of
high school, I applied for a Russian language camp that was being held on the Harvard Campus. I
wasn’t accepted into the program. The following year, I couldn’t take no for an answer. I was
determined to succeed at getting into the upcoming language camp. The camp was being held at
the University of Pittsburgh. I applied for the program, but I was super nervous about not being
accepted, since only twenty kids in the entire country are accepted into this program. I put extra
effort into writing the admissions essay for this program. I am so blessed to have amazing
parents that were willing to read my essay and give me editing advice. When the final draft of
my essay was complete, I sent in my application. The feeling you have as a young kid the night
before christmas was the same feeling I had waiting for the declination or acceptance into the
2017 Russian Startalk language camp at the University of Pittsburgh. It was an arduous
experience waiting for a response from Dawn Seckler, the Russian Language studies director at
the University of Pittsburgh. I was accepted into the program!

In my senior year of highs school my family and I were researching study abroad language programs. The program we found that was the best for me was NSLI-Y. The program is a government funded program through the State Department. This program was a huge step up from the previous language camp that I had been too in Pittsburgh. It was more competitive, and there were many things that had to fall correctly into place in order for me to be accepted into the program. The application process was very long. We first submitted the basic application in September. Then there were Dozens of essays that had to submitted, and several interviews had to be completed, and finally in April I received an Email from the program saying "You've been accepted!" I am so fortunate to have supportive parents that always pushed me to do my best, and to be persistent in all aspects of life. One of the biggest lessons I have learned in high school is that without persistence, I would not have been accepted nor experienced many of the things that I have in only four years of high school.
Being persistent has given me unique experiences in my lifetime. I have traveled the world, experienced new cultures, and met amazing people. Everyday I take a moment to appreciate my family, friends, teachers, and everything else that not everyone in the world gets to experience. With the support of my family, I have learned to face my fears, never give up, and most importantly, “Keep asking”.