Embracing Setbacks as ways for Personal Growth by Shalyn

Embracing Setbacks as ways for Personal Growth by Shalyn - August 2023 Scholarship Essay

Honestly I love this question. I know that this question is talking about my biggest achievement but honestly to speak on my biggest achievement I have to talk about my biggest obstacles that I have had to overcome which was my transfer from middle school to highschool.
I had always been the model student, the brightest one in the class, the one who never struggled with any work at all, and I took pride in this. My teachers would constantly brag about what a great student I was to me as well as my parents, but it felt that this image had completely deteriorated as soon as I hit 9th grade. In 9th grade I decided to join the IB program, which is the most rigorous course that Hoover High School has to offer, because I felt that I belonged with the smartest and brightest kids at my school, because I always fell into that category. However, once I joined I felt myself being more and more challenged academically than I had ever felt before.
I felt that I was no longer the smartest one in the room and sometimes I felt that I didn't belong in the program. This took a huge toll on the way that I felt about myself academically as my grads were no longer straight A’s. On top of this pressure that I was facing academically I had also felt myself drifting away from my middle school friends because we began focusing on different aspects of our life, which for me was focusing on achieving all of my goals to better myself for the future. To top off the crazy year that I had in 9th grade Covid hit and we were all sent home for the last 9 weeks.
During my tenth grade year I was fully virtual and I had to decide to not dwell on 9th grade but to rather learn from it. I told myself that I would not give up in the IB program because I truly am an intelligent, hardworking and bright student. I decided to set the goal that I would get my GPA to a 4.0 by the end of 10th grade year and the only way for me to do this would be to go through 10th grade without getting a single B on my report card. I knew that this would be extremely challenging considering that not only were my classes extremely rigorous but I was also learning in a virtual environment meaning I had to do a lot on my own without the ability to simply raise my hand in a classroom. I put in the work and I achieved my goal giving me a 4.1 at the end of my 10th grade year.
Me achieving this goal taught me the lesson that you are in control of your success and to reach your goals in life hard times are destined to come and when they do you have to be ready to face them head on. And that's how I have been attacking every problem that comes my way because I know I have full control of my success and extremely high potential. This has truly helped me throughout my 11th and 12th-grade years and I know that this lesson will continue to help me throughout my life. So as I go into my freshman year of college I will be well prepared to mentally. I will also be prepared to confidently set my goals for my future knowing that I will be able to achieve them because of how hardworking and driven I am. I truly feel that I can accomplish anything that I set my mind to. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this. Please contact me if there are any further questions regarding my application.