My Advice to an Incoming High School Freshman by Taylor

My Advice to an Incoming High School Freshman by Taylor - November 2014 Scholarship Essay

When I first began high school, I wasn't one of the people who didn't know what they wanted with their future, I always knew exactly what I wanted: to go to college and successfully complete college and eventually be a nurse. I just never knew how to get to where I strived to be, I never had anybody pushing me to do my best to get to college. One piece of advice that I would give to an incoming high school freshman would be to always stay focused, never give up.

I graduated high school, and I was the first and only person of my four siblings to do so, so that in itself was a huge accomplishment for me, but it wasn't enough, I am ashamed and embarrassed to say that I didn't stay focused, I knew what I wanted but I was too immature to do what it took to achieve my goals. I partied throughout high school, ditched classes, and I thought that just because I wasn't failing and that I was graduating, it would be enough. I knew that I would never give up on going to college, but it never occurred to me that my past would come back to haunt me, that future colleges would look back at my high school performance.

Right after high school, I was accepted and in the final stages of working out all of the details of going to a beautiful four-year nursing school. It was my dream come true! To say that I was ecstatic would be putting it mildly. One day when I went to this school to pick up my class schedule, I was told, "Oh, we no longer offer the nursing program here". I was upset, devastated, mad, sad, all of these emotions tore me apart inside. What now? Nine excruciating months later, after working at a minimum wage job, and spending what seemed like every spare moment looking for other schools that would suit me, I found a medical assistant school. I graduated at the top of my class with a 4.0 G.P.A. That was two years ago, and although I do love every moment of what I do, nursing has always been at the forefront of my mind. If I could do it all over again and become a high school freshman again, I'd do it in heartbeat. But I can't. But after going through all that I did, I am now wiser. I would tell an incoming high schooler of my experiences and beg them not to make the same mistakes I did.