How Struggles Change the Way You Think by Tara
Tara's entry into Varsity Tutor's April 2020 scholarship contest
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How Struggles Change the Way You Think by Tara - April 2020 Scholarship Essay
When I was in high school I didn't think attending college was important. I thought I wasn't smart enough to go to college because I never really learned how to study or write essays while I was homeschooled, as it wasn't something my mother stressed as important. I didn't even bother taking my SATs because I figured it was a waste of time. I also thought if I got married young to a well-off man I could focus on having kids and being a homemaker. There's nothing wrong with being a homemaker, but unfortunately, that wasn't what happened. I wasted my time for most of my twenties doing nothing of significance besides entertaining myself.
When I was twenty-six I got a job as a dance instructor at a ballroom dance studio. It was here that I first realized how important it was to get a college education. I loved dancing but becoming an instructor killed my enjoyment of it as a hobby. It became work and stressful. After six months I left. Although I didn't want to be a dance instructor for the rest of my life, that job helped me realize that I did want a life-long career, something that I would enjoy and would bring meaning and purpose to my life. And to achieve that, I needed a college education.
I realized that I was aimless and just wandering through life waiting for something to happen. I got frustrated with myself and enrolled at a technical college to get a basic transfer degree. I started getting all "A's" and realized that I was more intelligent than I had once thought. I also found out that I enjoyed school and learning.
Originally, I planned on getting an English degree at a four-year university because I loved writing. And then, a year into my associate's degree, I met my now-husband. We got married and I didn't continue my schooling because now I was adjusting to being a wife. We moved out of state for a year and focused on jobs and volunteering.
When we returned to my home state of South Carolina, I knew I wanted to return to college to finish my associate's degree. But now I thought I would get a degree in Education and become a teacher. Around this same time, I got a part-time job at my church as a childcare associate. It was at this job that I realized I really wanted to become a youth pastor. I applied to three local colleges, was accepted to all three, and then tried to figure out what I needed to do to accomplish my career goal.
These changes that I went through in my life helped me see that college is extremely important. Yes, you might learn things you don't need for your future career, but everything you learn can be interesting if you have the right attitude, and many of the classes I took in my first year of college ended up being useful to my second year - and now going to my bachelor's I can get it in only three years instead of four (the majority of my classes there are religion-based which my technical college didn't offer).
I wish I had gone to college earlier in life because I'd be in an established career right now, and yet I really wouldn't change anything because I would have a very different degree and career than I am pursuing now - and I wouldn't be the woman I am today, and I'm proud of that woman. She went through a lot of hardships but came out stronger and fiercer than ever before!