Obstacles and the Progression of Life by Tiffany
Tiffanyof Hendersonville's entry into Varsity Tutor's February 2017 scholarship contest
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Obstacles and the Progression of Life by Tiffany - February 2017 Scholarship Essay
Often you hear people say that the teenage years are the hardest years of a person’s life. They’re the most stressful and the most contemplating years of someone’s life. I very much agree with this statement. In the teenage years, a person is getting ready to become an adult. They’re getting ready for their future out in the real world, much different than what they’re used to. Though I might have a biased opinion because I am a teenager right now, I truly believe that these years, opposed to the adolescent years and the future coming years, are the hardest they could be for a person.
A lot of things have happened to me during these years of my life. I’ve shut down, shut people out, been in the hospital, done things I shouldn’t have, and haven’t done things that I should have. I’ve gone places, I’ve had different passions and values, I’ve forgiven and I have loved. I have struggled and I have fought. Most of all I’ve endured pain I never knew I could feel. A lot of people have their fair share of pain, and it’s not a fun thing to go through.
My life, in my own eyes, has just been one obstacle after another. Between family, school, friends, and life itself, things just seem to become so overwhelming. Sometimes feeling overwhelmed can stop you from doing what you desire to, and it can cloud your judgement. It can stop you from trying to get to your goal. That is one of the biggest obstacles a person has to deal with, maybe not even just as a teenager, but as an adult too. A lot of things can leave a person feeling overwhelmed, and many people face many different obstacles.
For me, though over the years multiple things have contributed, the most overwhelming event that has happened would be the passing of my dad. Everyone deals with loss at some point in their lives, but sometimes losing your own parent, especially at a young age, has a huge impact on you and your life, especially if you were extremely close with that parent. My dad and I were close, as were him and my siblings. While he was in the hospital, he believed that he was already destined to die. He had a chance to keep fighting to live, but with that belief, having that belief ruined his chance. My biggest regret is not telling him how much he was needed. I should’ve encouraged him to fight for his life, but instead I didn’t. He might not have listened anyway, with all the medicine they had him take, but I still should have tried. As to why I didn’t, I’m not sure. I guess my brain didn’t register how serious this really was until after I was told he wasn’t going to make it.
Everyday is a struggle without him, but it’s also an opportunity to better myself, to really use the influence I have on others to make a difference for other people and their lives. I have learned that life is a gift. It shouldn’t be taken for granted under any circumstances, because it can be taken at any instant. At any moment in time it could be lost forever. Not lost in the heart or the mind, but lost from reality, from the world. While the memories of that beautiful soul will never be forgotten, you could also never really escape the fate that they are physically gone and can never come back. Also, I've learned that life goes on. The world doesn't wait for me, you, or anyone. We are pushed to face the rest of our lives without them.