“Who” is Not a Person by Rachel

“Who” is Not a Person by Rachel - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

There are not many people who can inspire me academically, which is to say that there are none at all. My academic inspirations are not people, but my pets. To continue to provide for them and meet their needs, I have to be capable of doing so. My academic success determines their futures as well as my own because it dictates whether or not I will be able to get a well-paying job. If I am well off then they will be too.
Knowing that there are living things that depend on me has greatly improved my work ethic. I have to feed and care for them and that has made a difference in my lifestyle and has motivated me to work harder—both academically and not. Before I got my pets, I did not care about my grades much. I did well in school, and even though I tried, I did not care whether or not I succeeded at it. I had only myself to succeed for and that wasn't enough to motivate me to do better. I spent the majority of my nights up late starting and finishing essays that were due within the next few hours. I had poor time management skills and it resulted in sleepless nights and sloppily written essays. It was wearing me down and my grades showed it. I was going to fail.
I was given a lizard late in my junior year of high school, which is about when my all-nighters were starting to develop a negative impact on my quality of life. I started caring for myself because my lizard's well-being depended on mine. I stopped pulling all-nighters and developed a better sleep schedule. I was no longer procrastinating on assignments, and I was doing better in school and life. I was still stressed, but I was doing better.
Later in my senior year of high school, I got a dog. Being around her has decreased my stress levels and has helped me develop a healthier lifestyle. Because of my pets, I was able to get straight “A”s for my second semester, senior year. I graduated with a good GPA and was able to pass my ACT with flying colors. I attribute my success to my pets, because without them I would not have been able to do it. They are the reason I was able to graduate.
My pets are the reason for my academic success and they have helped motivate me to graduate and get the grades that I was capable of getting but wasn't motivated enough to work towards. Now that I have pets, I have learned how to schedule my time more efficiently and that has led me to develop better study habits and get better grades. I am a harder-working person than I was before, and I am grateful for what I have been able to learn from them. Having pets has given me a future as well as giving me things to share it with.