Walking Forward by Sarah

Walking Forward by Sarah - August 2023 Scholarship Essay

I started walking at a year old, so maybe saying that walking was the biggest achievement of my educational career thus far sounds a bit funny. But it's true. Walking (and I mean this in the most visceral, literal sense), physically moving across the stage during my undergraduate graduation ceremony is what I am most proud of in all of my education up to this point.

My senior year of college found me facing unknown medical complications and intense physical pain. There was a stretch of time in the winter of my final semester that I was nearly unable to get out of bed, limping slowly to classes. I moved slowly across the campus I had come to know and love, uncertain of what my future might hold. Questions swirled in my mind of whether I would need to take a medical leave of absence, how to ask for help but continue to push through pain, and what - or even if - graduation in the Spring could look like.

I'm grateful that doctors and medical advances helped me receive a diagnosis relatively quickly but three months of physical pain combined with uncertainty left me even more grateful for the late-May morning during which I walked tall and strong across the stage to receive my diploma.

This experience, as well as the continued reality of living with a chronic illness, has shaped, formed, and strengthened my future goal to support undergraduate college students through academic support and personal advising. I know that my account of experiencing a life-altering event during the college years is not abnormal. The undergraduate years are a time when students face major life transitions, intense personal growth, and impactful events, some of which are sought out and others which hit unexpectedly. It is precisely during this time of life that I want to serve students.

I aspire to be an academic advisor for college students and to support their growth and development. Walking across the stage at my own graduation is one of my proudest moments. Reflecting on the build-up and fulfillment of this moment reminds me of the motive behind my future goals. It reminds me of the unique realities facing students during the young adult years so that I can be an understanding and compassionate advisor; it implores me to remember the many people (advisors, family members, friends, doctors, and professors) who helped me get to that point in my life, such that I can be continually learning of and sharing resources with students; and, it encourages me to push through challenges and keep walking forward, inspiring me to lead by example and encourage my students to take initiative, to keep walking forward along their own educational journey.

I am studying Higher Education to further support my goals and become well equipped to achieve them. But I know that my walking forward across the stage at my undergraduate graduation ceremony is one achievement that continues to support my moving forward towards my goal to be an academic advisor. My goal is to serve students while keeping their unique qualities as human beings and the unique contexts in which they may learn at the forefront. As I begin my Master's degree, I'm taking another forward step towards those goals as I continue to grow into a confident and prepared professional, ready to serve college students.