"Oh the Places I Can Go" by Olivia

"Oh the Places I Can Go" by Olivia - September 2017 Scholarship Essay

My freshman year of high school I didn’t know where I wanted to be in life or what I wanted to do. All around me were adults telling me to pick a college, pick a career, pick a lifestyle. It all seemed so far away, I was just focused on getting the grades. I had an empty spot in my schedule that year as the class I was previously signed up for was not running. The only thing that was available that hour was Marketing and Business-Sales. I thought, “Why not, I don’t know what I want to do anyway.”

The first week of class I met my teacher, Stefanie Younger; someone so passionate about her job that it makes you want to find what makes your heart happy too. She introduced me to DECA; an association of business and marketing students that focuses on competition, social activities, and community service. I was nervous to do something so out of my comfort zone, but she prepared me both inside of class and out, and I ended up making it to the State Career Development Conference! The part that kept replaying in my head: one of the state officers telling me “Oh the places you can go.”

Flash forward two years and I am now the President of our DECA chapter. I have competed on an international level and help to make our chapter one of the best in the nation. I have planned countless community service events, competition preparation sessions, and fun events for our members to meet others and help the community. During freshman year, never would I have thought I would be where I am today. What happened because of a scheduling error, turned out to be the best thing to happen to me. Taking Marketing and Business-Sales as an elective my freshman year forced me to challenge myself and find something I am truly passionate about. Not only did it make me challenge myself in my learning experience, but my elective has brought me my closest friends, a motivating, energetic, and kind teacher, and endless opportunities for my future.