Adapting to the Un-Adaptable by Payton

Adapting to the Un-Adaptable by Payton - January 2022 Scholarship Essay

The past year has taught me countless lessons that will stick with me throughout my adult life. 2021 brought challenges and tribulations, but most of all I have learned how to manage the struggle and adapt throughout it all. My academic success has been most improved throughout the last year because of my improved adaptability and flexibility towards difficult situations.
In January of 2021 I came back from winter break to a school that was struggling to keep COVID-19 cases under control for both staff and students. Everyday I wore a mask for over eight hours and the smell of disinfectant was everywhere I went. However, I was thankful to be able to go to school in person as many didn’t get this opportunity. Through this thankfulness I learned to look on the bright side of tough situations and to always look for the silver lining. This mindset allowed me to continue to keep my grades up and stay on top of my endless work load. My junior year I took five Advanced Placement classes which included: AP Physics I, AP Language and Composition, AP Statistics, AP Computer Science Principles, and AP US History. These courses challenged my academic skills as well as my mental health, but it was my ability to time manage and adapt to ever changing schedules that helped me through. In previous years I held tightly onto a fixed weekly schedule; however, with these extremely difficult and vigorous classes I wasn’t able to have my security blanket anymore.
At the beginning of the year I struggled a lot with adjusting to the course load and I considered dropping a few of my advanced classes. Thankfully I had amazing teachers around me who encouraged me and gave me advice on how to thrive in their classes. In addition to having supportive adults around me I was able to find seniors who had taken the classes in previous years that were willing to give me advice. These students taught me that it is vital to ask for help when you are having trouble and that you don’t have to be alone in your problems. Because of this amazing support team I was able to manage my course load and begin to succeed in my classes. Although I still experienced setbacks due to my exceedingly busy schedule.
Throughout high school I have always tried to be very involved in my community and local clubs while still maintaining a full and rigorous course load; however, nothing could’ve prepared me for the scheduling nightmare that came with junior year. During this year I was on my varsity tennis team, on my FIRST Robotics team, a member of the National Honor Society, on my Aledo Clay Busters team, a member of my UIL Academics team, and I was a Class Representative. These clubs and teams might have been enough to keep me occupied, but I also continued volunteering in my community with my local Special Olympics team. With all of my activities and responsibilities I learned to do work whenever I had time which resulted in multitasking all throughout the day. During lunch I would eat and do homework at the same time and anytime I had a minute in between activities or clubs I would pull out a book or assignment and finish a couple pages or problems. By being flexible and getting work done as efficiently as possible I was able to get more sleep which resulted in me getting better grades and feeling better mentally and physically.
Although this past year was jam packed with school work, clubs, volunteering, and activities I wouldn’t change anything. The lessons I learned throughout this past year were vital to my academic success and mental health. One must be able to adapt to make it through life and I am thankful to have learned that lesson relatively early on. I am eager to see what the future holds and what other lessons I am in store for.