Work Ethic Personal Statement

Most people are not comfortable with silence. I am. Freshman year of high school was not a pleasant time in my life. I was a decidedly reserved child who worked best in silent solitude. I had terribly little belief in what I was doing and assumed that I would go on to a low-level college and an average life. I saw this to be my path in life, but deep inside I knew that I wanted more. However, my mindset was so restricted that I lacked the confidence to realize my potential. Although I earned outstanding grades and my teachers appreciated my work ethic, I had no personal drive behind my education. Working in the family business of construction had taught me the value of persistence and excellent work ethic from an early age—tools that I was reasonably capable of applying to other tasks in my life. There were other qualities I developed in construction that I had not yet learned to apply elsewhere in my life: qualities that I didn’t …show more content…
In more advanced classes in math and science I realized, with the help of three truly incredible teachers, that beyond having exceptional work ethic, I also had considerable confidence. This confidence, that previously had allowed me to develop skills on par with my adult counterparts in construction, now allowed me to develop a genuine passion for my studies. Where I once had been a typical moody teenager at the dinner table, I was now happily informing my parents and sister of the highlights of the latest AP Biology lesson and speculating about possible applications of new equations from AP Chem. Within my friend group and eventually beyond, I became known for my study tips and review packets. We would spend late nights before tests on shared Google Docs or at someone’s house going over my study guides and revisiting difficult problems. When test days came around I tackled them as challenges rather than judgements, allowing my whole attitude toward school to