Striving For Success by Colleen

Striving For Success by Colleen - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

In the middle of my 6th grade year, I transitioned from a Catholic school to a public school. This change really flipped my life around. I remember just being so confused as to what I was learning because the whole curriculum was so different in a Catholic school compared to a public school. As a girl that has grown up with a learning disability, Attention Deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and who struggles with school at times, the confidence when it comes to trying to keep your grades up can be hard, especially when you’re a Junior in high school. Confidence crashes down like a roller coaster when you take a 100 question test that you have studied so hard for and yet you still don’t achieve a good grade. My goal for when I come out of high school is that I will lead myself into something successful. I will take many challenges to be successful. My Freshman year of high school seemed to be the hardest for me because I had to retake tests constantly. By constantly, I mean retaking almost every single test in subjects like Physical Science, which is basically a combination of Chemistry, Biology, and Physics.
Don’t get me wrong, I turn in all my homework but sometimes tests can put a huge toll on my grades. If someone happened to know me pretty well, they would know that Math is not my best friend at all. I’ve struggled with Math ever since I was young. I have learned many new concepts in Math and I am stronger at it now. Things started to go in a positive direction for me as I moved into to my Sophomore year. I started to achieve the unimaginable for myself. My grades were really improving and I got in the honor roll under Honorable Mention (which is basically achieving a 3.0 GPA or higher). Once I saw my report card for the first quarter and saw that I made it onto the honor roll, I honestly wanted to cry tears of joy.
I really strived to push myself to get to my goal which was to make it onto the honor roll. I made it onto the honor roll three times. I’m hoping that my future will lead me to success, even through the smallest paper cuts, sweat, and tears. Without my family, my Intervention Specialists, my teachers, and my friends, I honestly don’t know where I would be today in terms of academics. To anyone with a learning disability or any other sort of disability that is somewhere out there reading this, never give up on whatever you strive to do and never give up on your dreams!!