At some point in time in their development, most people encounter an adult figure, who instills a positive change in their lives. For me, that person was Cindy Scannella--my track and my cross country coach for my first two years of high school. With her unique approach to coaching, Coach Scannella not only gave me the confidence to flourish in the sport and lead my team, but she also gifted me with a love for running. This passion of mine as well as her continual support has carried me through the difficulties of my grandfather’s death, my parents’ divorce, and other strenuous circumstances including the end of her time as my coach. Her presence in my life has truly altered my life for the better.…
The year was 2014. I was a senior in high school, already I had committed to go to Colorado Mesa University, I had a track scholarship and I was going to major in Geology, ultimately wanting to go into petroleum engineering. The only thing was, I didn’t want to. I did not want to go be a geologist, I wanted to travel, to see the world! As cliché as it may have been, I dropped out, I worked for a period of time and sent myself on a trip to Europe to “find myself”.…
Johnathan M. Kingman Professor Stuart Tucker English 1300-04 30 October 2016 College Pressures College is a time of anxiety and panic for many students all over the world. In the piece, “College Pressures” by William Zinsser, there is talk about the pressures of college and advises how to handle these moments of breakdown. Through the late nights and tears shed, you have feelings of high doubt and stress. Zinsser points out the four main pressures of college as being “economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure and self-induced pressure” (275). The cost to attend a private college continues to rise as inflation rises as well.…
There were many times where I thought I was going to drop out, where I wanted to give up because the stress was too much. But I continued on, I continued despite the crippling depression I fell into in tenth grade, I continued despite the difficult and numerous assignments we were given. I did this so that I could prove not only to myself but my family, that circumstance doesn’t have to determine your future. I grew up poor, my mother was a single parent working a full-time job without a college degree while raising three children. As such, she wasn’t home very often, and when she was, things weren’t that great.…
There I was, finishing my junior year, I still had no idea what to do after my senior year, being honest I was a little scared because when people are young, they can easily say “I want to be a cop, Nurse, doctor...ext.” But when you get to your last years you wish they never end. I had so many things on my mind, so many ideas what I wanted to be, what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. A lifetime sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?…
Life in my house was at times an adventure and at other times a misadventure. Deep in the throes of a misadventure and while pregnant with my youngest brother Zach, my mother was unwittingly poisoned. Unfortunately, Zach was born with several physical and intellectual disabilities causing severe obstacles in school. I was giving the opportunity to play teacher in real life and tutor him. It made such a positive impact on both of our lives, I knew I had found my calling.…
Free from all the extra attention and scrutiny from teachers, who did all they could to mold the freshman class into proper "Vincentians", I felt as though I could finally relax and have a regular high school career. It was a slow paced year where pressures such as ACT and SAT preparation, applying for colleges, and deciding your career path seemed so far away. As long as I remember, I have been on a never ending journey of discovering my talents and finding a career that would be most suitable for me to contribute to society. I was convinced that If just lived life the way I was supposed to and fulfilled my responsibilities, that it all would just come to me one day. Because of my assumption of how much time I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, I found myself putting these important thoughts on a hiatus.…
The experiences I went on to have as an undergraduate solidified…
In high school I was in a program called Upward Bound which I was one of the fortunate’s to join this amazing program which I learned so many things. Going to Upward Bound changed my viewpoint about my self and that everything is conceivable in the event that you work for it. I discovered that school is vital and I need to be the first in my family to move on from a profession. The project impact me on the grounds that before I joined the system I had an alternate sentiment in transit life was on account of I felt that individuals that don 't attempt dependably get what they need. Toward the end they may get that thing yet they will be dissatisfied and won 't know how to acknowledge life.…
I’ve experienced many hardships when dealing with writing assignments, but the worst would have to be my Senior Portfolio. After starting the assignment, I learned very quickly that the assignment was going to be the easy compared to gathering all the information needed about myself. I was required to create multiple different essays that consisted of my post-high school plan and a reflective essay. It seemed easy to write essays on myself, but until I was required to write it all down, I never realized how many experiences contribute into making me who I am today. Even though I find it as the most challenging writing assignment, I also see it as the best learning experience to show who I am and how I plan my future.…
My decision to return to college was purely random. There was no pondering over the decision; no weighing in the pros and cons, no thinking it through or any real thought behind it. I literally woke up one morning and said to myself “I think I’ll go back to college” and I made the call. I called the College of New Rochelle and made the appointment for the admissions test. And before I knew what was actually happening, I was a matriculated college student.…
With no intentions of ever going to college, I almost blew off my eighth grade computer science class research project. The project itself was simple, research colleges and majors that sound interesting. No one in my family has ever gotten a formal education because of various reasons, I did not think I was about to break that chain. Sitting at my computer staring at the blank google home page I typed, “naval college.” What are the odds, I thought to myself as I pressed the enter button.…
For some students, choosing to attend college after high school is an easy decision. Some are expected by their families to continue into higher education post high school graduation. I know a few people that are so motivated to attend college that they already know for sure what they are going to major in before they were even freshmen in high school. For me, I was not falling into that category. College was something I did not consider throughout my time in high school.…
I always thought school was dumb. That was until I found out that I wanted to do something with my life. I learn that school is important in everyone's future. My first year of high school as a freshman, I didn’t care about my academic future, I was living like a kid still.…
Vocation is a calling in life, a purpose to what you’re meant to do in life. I believe that vocation can consist of many different experiences that form your calling in life. For me, there has never been just one experience that has formed my vocation. My vocation always continues to expand with all the different experiences I’ve gone through my life so far; I bet that as the years go by and I get older, my vocation will keep growing. I see that the purpose of having a vocation is to be happy, to expand the way you see people and the world.…