Confidence by Savannah

Confidence by Savannah - February 2023 Scholarship Essay

Confidence is a very underrated soft skill that is important for student success. Most people tend to overlook this skill in the sense that it's not high on the list of importance. The first soft skill people might think of would be cooperativeness, or conflict resolving. But at the core of those things is confidence, not only in yourself but also in others.

Confidence is what keeps dedication going, and one can see this even from someone of a young age. Learning itself takes confidence. When a student is confident, they are more motivated to do something and become less afraid of failure. Many intellectual historical figures have stated that this fear of failure is unnecessary because failure is inevitable. It is important to have that confidence that you can overcome the failure. Without it, that singular failure could knock you down and the cycle of fear continues. You dont improve because your lack of confidence convinces you that you will fail again and again and will get nowhere after each try. Confidence is knowing that you will fail again and again but believing that you can and will do better. That confidence is what convinces you to better. It is your shield and your cushion when you fall. This can even take you beyond the school/academic environment.

I struggled with confidence for many years myself. I doubted my academic and social abilities and it caused me to hate myself. I constantly compared myself to others and each failure I got knocked my esteem and motivation even lower as the years progressed. It got to the point where I couldn't even stand the thought of going to school. I would believe that I can't do it, that im not good enough. The difference between now and then is astonishing. The process was long, but when I had finally realized that my lack of self confidence was the trigger to this feeling, it was like I had flipped a switch. A series of small but significant changes in my mindset actually helped me improve myself both academically and emotionally. As a student you always hear an abundant amount of ,"just believe in yourself" and all that. Its so easy to just dismiss it, but believe it or not, that actually did wonders for me in my life. I no longer felt like a useless student, nor did i feel like I always had to compare myself to others. My motivation to improve myself came back and any failures I suffered in the mean time didn't pack a punch as it used to.