Cast a Shadow by leigha

Cast a Shadow by leigha - November 2014 Scholarship Essay

When starting high school everyone is afraid of something. Maybe they're afraid they won't succeed or that they won't make any friends; I was afraid of living in my older sister's shadow. My sister had great friends, was every teacher's dream student, graduated valedictorian of her class, and, well let's just say she couldn't describe the inside of the principal's office. I remember thinking that she was sure going to be hard to live up to, and it took me a long time to realize I didn't have to. I only had to live up to me; the only shadow I have to live in is mine.

High school freshmen are the lowest of the low, I of course mean that with greatest respect. Nobody cares about freshmen's opinions or interests. Freshmen are all lumped into basic, required classes and given the worst lockers. In all honesty freshmen are shoved into a corner and ignored, at least by upper classmen, which makes freshman year the perfect time to start casting your shadow.

I know what you must be thinking, "um hello, genius, everyone casts a shadow." Yea, okay, but I don't mean the darkness caused by the blockage of light everybody causes, I'm talking about something much less literal. Your shadow is what follows you around while you're in high school and it's what you leave behind when you go; in a word, your shadow is your legacy. Your shadow is the sports you play, the clubs you join, the friends you make, the differences you make. Your shadow is how you'll be remembered or how quickly you'll be forgotten.

Leaving a shadow doesn't mean trying to impress people just so they'll remember you though, it means putting one-hundred percent effort into being you. Do the things you enjoy, be friends with the people you love, and never try to be anyone but yourself. Whether or not everyone remembers you or not doesn't matter, the people who get caught in your shadow will and you get to decide what they remember so make it good.

My advice to incoming freshmen would be to cast their own shadow. Stand up for what they believe in, do what they like and be friends with who they want. Don't ever think they have to live up to anyone else or in their shadow. Most importantly don't let anyone block their shadow because light can only be seen in darkness.