College Essay On Determination

Determination is the one word that I hold above all others because of the profound effect it has had on me. Throughout my high school education and extra-curricular activity participation, I have come through many challenging situations solely through determination. Community college courses, rocketry, and the ACT test are all examples where determination has enabled me to accomplish my goals.
The first subject that determination helped me through was my community college courses. As a junior, I was given the opportunity to take community college courses at my local high school. I knew it would be a heavy load to take on considering I was already a full-time homeschooled student as well as a part-time public school student. Even though I had a full schedule, I knew that I would benefit from …show more content…
Trigonometry was a pre-requisite for the physics class I was taking; however, I worked with the professor in order to take them at the same time. This was wonderful, except it doubled my work load and study time. Without determination, it would have been easy for me to give up or get overwhelmed by this large amount of coursework, but I remained committed and came out with a great education.
Determination is not only important to me in academics, but also in my extra-curricular activities. Three years ago as a sophomore, I joined a Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC) team, and was given the task of designing, fabricating, and implementing an apparatus (air brake) that would be capable of making our rocket achieve an exact apogee. This was not an easy task and I soon found myself spending many hours sketching ideas and building balsa wood prototypes of my designs. By the end of my sophomore year, I had a crude balsa wood design of my air brake; however, it was decided that the design would not work properly in a rocket. Therefore, during my junior year, I was determined to take my crude design and create a fully operational version.