Overcoming My Academic Obstacles by Viviana

Overcoming My Academic Obstacles by Viviana - June 2016 Scholarship Essay

There is always a purpose for the difficulties we come across in our lives. We learn and grow from them. Yes we struggle and sacrifice but it is all worth it. We learn to pick ourselves up from our mistakes and it helps us become wise for when we come across future obstacles. In eleventh grade I took four AP classes, which was a difficult task, but I learned new study skills and work habits and it prepared me for college work.
My junior year in high school was definitely the most challenging one of all. I decided to take four AP classes - English Language, US History, Spanish Language and Calculus. I was told that I was taking more AP classes than what I could handle but I didn't let that stop me from doing so. I was a bit scared of getting bad grades in them but I was up for the challenge. I wanted to see how I could handle college work. I wanted to learn what study skills were best for me and how to manage my time wisely and fix my schedule.
I did struggle with this academic obstacle. I had to sacrifice social time to stay home to study and do Cornell notes. I lost sleep doing homework and studying. I would use my school breaks to study for tests and quizzes. I learned what methods worked best for me when I had to study. I had to plan my evening when I got home from school to schedule how much time I had to work for each class. I had to give up one Saturday every month to go to UCLA for tutoring sessions for AP Calculus. I discovered YouTube channels that were great in helping me understand difficult topics. All this would pay off, as I would find out later.
The feeling of succeeding and overcoming an obstacle is one of the greatest feelings in the world. In July, I got my AP test scores and I saw that I had passed 3 out of 4 AP test. I received a score of four for English and US History and a score of five for Spanish. My hard worked had paid off and I proved to those people that thought I wouldn't be able to handle all the work, wrong. I had also maintained an A in 3 out of 4 AP classes in both semesters. Most importantly, I had overcome this obstacle and learned from it. I learned new study new skills and how to manage and schedule my time. I learned to look for resources to help me when I was stuck in something. I learned that as long as I try my best and give it my all, I can persevere and overcome obstacles along my academic path.
The purpose of difficulties is to learn and grow from them. When we are trying to overcome an obstacle, there might be times when we feel like giving up. What's important is to control ourselves and learn how to adapt ourselves to these circumstances. Everything happens for a reason and when we look back we discover how much we've grown and what we've learned that can help us in the future.