Accomplishment: Letting Go by Alexis

Accomplishment: Letting Go by Alexis - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

I had graduated high school after going through the program that is the International Baccalaureate. I felt accomplished, I knew I had done shakey on one of my tests but thought that I had done well enough on the rest to be OK and achieve an IB diploma. This diploma was one I had been seeking my whole high school career. You see, our tests are set up where you test in three HL subjects and four SL subjects over two years. I took two of my tests during my junior year of high school, both scoring fives. (That's good IB tests are ranked 0-7) So I thought ok, good, I just have to do fives and fours on the rest. Then the criteria changed the summer between my Junior and Senior year. It wasn't a big deal then, I didn't even know honestly. So my senior year I took the rest of my tests. Overall I scored a 28, 11 points from HL subjects, 17 from SL subjects with an 'A' on my extended essay and a B in theory of knowledge. I was happy, I thought I had done it. Then I realized I wouldn't be getting my diploma because I had only gotten 11 HL points. I was furious, the one thing I had been working towards my whole high school career to do, I hadn't done. So I began to research and was in contact with my IB coordinator all summer as well as IB officials, had one of my tests reexamined to see if I could get another HL point but it was no luck. I found out the rule change then. I pointed it out to my IB coordinator and left it at that. Eventually, just the week before I was to start the next big step in my life, college at Drake University, I let go. It wasn't easy, but I realized I was starting college, I could not let something like this hold me back. So I didn't get my diploma, so what, I still accomplished a great deal while I was in high school and made friends that I would never have made if I hadn't been in the program. I let go and I found a new dream: being published.

The kicker, a month into college, I got an email. The IB officials decided I was right, I was eventually awarded my diploma.

I still feel that letting go was a bigger accomplishment, it allowed for me to move on in my life and embrace the next step to the fullest. The diploma was just a fancy piece of paper that in the end means so little if you can't back up what you learned. And I learned a lot. The experience taught me the art of letting go and for that I will always be grateful.