Do the hard stuff now. by Sean

Do the hard stuff now. by Sean - September 2022 Scholarship Essay

"Do the hard stuff now, so that way it all easier from there." That would be my piece of advice to younger me because it was something I struggled to do in high school. All throughout my high school career I would try to get out of doing something hard, like I would not tell someone how I feel and suck it up. A small example would be someone is tapping their pencil and I get annoyed at it, instead of simply asking politely to stop tapping my pencil. I would sit there and listen to tapping driving me more insane by the minute it they stop without even realizing it. But it gets bigger than just that, I would put off a big essay until the last minute because I did not know where to start and it seemed to be daunting to begin. I have now learned that if I just spend ten to fifteen minutes looking over the rubric and instructions, I can get a sense of how the essay is going to be structured as well as give me time to prepare for the actual essay. This does not just go for academics and little frustrations in life, it also helped me in fitness. Staying fit is part of my identity, I like to lift and run in my free time because it allows my mind to drift away and forget about all the problems in life. So sometimes I will get in my own head about taking the day off because I had a big day and I have other work to do that can not wait. But I will sit on my phone or computer and not work until the true last minute. But I got a workout or run in I was able to think clearer, have more discipline, and be too tired to get up and do something else. So if I had to give me younger me one piece of advice it would be “Do the hard stuff now, so that way it all easier from there.” So that way I have an aphorism to say to myself throughout the day.