Only from the bottom.... by Xander

Only from the bottom.... by Xander - January 2022 Scholarship Essay

It's a bit of an understatement when I say that COVID has made all of our college experiences just a little bit harder. Myself, I was stuck in my dorm for the entirety of my fall and winter semester-and combined with my habit of losing attention very easily, I found that it was a common situation for me to be studying on my bed for a few minutes, then wake up 2 hours later or find myself buried in my phone. As a result, my grades suffered, as well as my mental health. It felt like I was just waking up every day just to walk to my desk 3 feet away. But every redemption story needs a turning point.
My own turning point came this fall semester-with my campus slowly returning to a semblance of normality. The birds were chirping. People were walking outside. Awful flirting attempts were witnessed. It felt like a genuine college experience. I experienced my first cliché moments of college-working until 5 in the morning, late night Mexican food runs, and the stress filled week before finals. But in all those struggles-I found a motivation that I had not found before. Maybe it was the fact I was able to actually get out of my dorm and study. Maybe it was actually having dormmates to encourage me and for me to encourage. Maybe it was a mixture of several elements- I cant be fully sure. But all I know was that it was helping shape me for the better.
I know that there are other students who have gone through the same thing that I have. To be honest-I got some of my tricks from them. I started studying in areas outside of my dorm-free of distractions and opportunities to do other things except study. Setting a schedule to determine when I would be free to go out and study helped me to coordinate between my classes and my job. And my efforts showed-in just this one semester alone, I have already achieved a higher GPA than my other semesters here in college. As I approach the winter semester, I am excited to see what these new discoveries will bring, as I get ready for the second semester of my actual college experience.