Life Skills 101 by Tara

Life Skills 101 by Tara - December 2014 Scholarship Essay

Our life starts off as a blank canvas. We begin to add love strokes to our canvas as we experience the joy of family. A stroke of fear appears in the corner when it is dark and we have a bad dream. We throw a splash of fun in the middle when we go swimming in the pool during the summer. But as soon as we start our first year of preschool, we are constantly adding strokes every minute, every second. Over time, we become a complex painting made of experience, emotion, and education.

Many of the things I do on a daily basis were taught to me in school. From spelling my name to reading to making complex decisions, my education is responsible for a large percentage of my daily success. Kids do not go to school simply to learn facts and dates, they go to learn valuable life skills that will carry them through their adult years if they will engage early on. Lately, as I have been preparing for college, I have realized just how much my schooling has truly benefited me and how much of a competitive edge I have because of the positive attitude I have tried to maintain throughout my education.

I have always been a kid who was excited to learn new things. My parents discovered that early on and they put me into an accelerated learning environment (ALL: Accelerated Learning Lab) when I was in 5th grade. I was thrown into a class where 6 hours of homework a night was typical and 7 books a month was required. As a 5th grader, this was quite overwhelming, but I decided to take on the challenge. I made the decision to eliminate several of the extracurricular activities I would usually be involved in that year and I frequently woke up an hour or two before school to get my homework done. This year of school taught me the value of self-discipline. The more control we have over ourselves, the more successful we will be.

In the 7th and 8th grade, I was involved in a program similar to the ALL program called Gifted and Talented (GT). Every year, the GT kids participated in the National History Day competition. Students chose a historical topic related to the annual theme and conducted intensive research on the topic for 6 months. We were then required to present our findings as a paper, exhibit, performance, documentary, or a website. In the 7th grade, I wrote a 2500 word paper which won first at region, second at state, and then advanced to Nationals where it placed in the final top 10. The next year, I prepared a live 10 minute performance which won first at region and state. I had the opportunity to advance to Nationals again where I placed 3rd in a preliminary round. This experience not only gave me valuable research and writing skills, it built my confidence and installed the belief that when I put in the work, I am competitive on a national level.

Throughout high school, I have set a goal of excellence: doing my personal best in everything I am involved in. I have pursued this goal in multiple areas of my life, but in education, I have tried to achieve this by taking honors and AP classes. I made the decision to peak my senior year and I am currently taking 3 AP classes. I am also planning on passing 3 AP tests this year. Because I am involved in so many time demanding classes, I have had to develop the critical skill of time management. More than once this year I have had to give up a Friday night with my friends for my AP Psychology textbook to prepare for the upcoming test. I have not only been rewarded with good grades, but the satisfaction of accomplishment and the motivation to continue on to higher education.

The 12 years I have spent in school have been the most critical years of my life so far. I have undergone a transformation from a child to a near-adult and I am ready to move on to the next stages of my life. Everything we do in life is to prepare for something better. My education has prepared me to enter the training grounds for the real world, commonly known as college. Real world, here I come.