Learning Opportunities by Adrianne

Learning Opportunities by Adrianne - March 2019 Scholarship Essay

It’s okay to make mistakes. If you don’t do well in a class, it will be okay. If you mess up something with your parents, friends, or significant other, it will be okay. The world has a funny way of making bad situations work out in the end. Sometimes the world expects everything out of us and a single mistake can take everything we had away from us, but in the end, those mistakes will only make you stronger.
I made many of my own mistakes during freshman year, and I felt that my life was over. I lost friends, my significant other, my parents’ trust, just about everything. Now though, I’m on track to get my Associate’s Degree, I have a new partner, and new friends who support me much more than my old friends. I never thought that my life was going to get better, but it did.
Additionally, I learned from that experience. I didn’t just learn to avoid that mistake, but I also learned more about myself. I learned about my flaws, and how to counter them. I was prone to making certain bad decisions, and I decided not to give in to that pressure. Additionally, I learned that I didn’t have mechanisms to deal with my own anxiety. Mental illness has been a problem in my life for a long time and making this mistake allowed me to come face-to-face with it and get help.
From my experience, I learned more about my situation as well. Many of the friends that I had prior were not good friends. They encouraged and manipulated me to make bad decisions. Some were making their own bad decisions, which led them to even darker places. I learned how to make better friends and be a better person.
My mistakes have made me a better person, and I will continue to learn because I will continue to make mistakes. You will make many mistakes in high school and beyond, but instead of thinking of them as mistakes, instead think of them as learning opportunities.