My Biggest Goal

My Greatest Goal Graduation had to have been one of my biggest goals. I’ve had many throughout high school, but this would by far be my greatest accomplishment. I had overcome the whole high school episode. Graduation was something that had to be done and something I wanted to do. I have always known that I was capable of anything I put my mind to, and finishing school made that clear to me and everyone else. If finishing school could be done then, I knew I had other things that had to be done. Graduation taught me how to maintain a schedule, how to deal with lengthy school days, and make my family proud. This was just the beginning of the many things I had to overcome. First off, I had to learn to maintain my school schedule and many other things such as; work and homework. Most days I worked eight hour shifts, and once I got out of school I had to get ready for work. Taking my homework with me to work and doing it there became an everyday priority. I would study at work and do projects. In order to graduate I had to meet all deadlines for senior project and fees and fines. I had to pay for a book that had been missing since the second grade. Johnston County Schools make sure you do so before walking across that stage. Most of my senior project was done at work except for the product. I had to work longer hours to pay off the little fees I had. Another priority on my list of scheduling was making sure I had all the classes required to graduate. I had to have four math credits, four English credits, three science credits, three history credits, and two second language credits. Halfway through my first semester of the twelfth grade I realized I was missing a second language credit and had to enroll for the second semester. Through all those trials and tribulations I learned to manage time and maintain a schedule. Secondly, I learned to deal with the lengthy school days. One of my dislikes about high school was getting up at 5:00am to make sure I made it to the bus stop by 6:30am. On the days after I had worked an eight hour shift the night before was a pain, but I still went. Then I had to go to classes each day until 2:20pm. The bell rang every day at the same time, no earlier or no later. The policy was that I could not miss four class periods, per class, per nine weeks. There was no choice about going to school or not. The school had a great program to help those succeed when extra help was needed or you just had to make up time missed due to absences or excessive tardiness. The program provided me with each help in weak areas. I attended the Sparta Lunch program every day for forty five minutes of my ninety minute lunch; not because I had too many absences, but because I knew this was a basic step to my success. The struggles of those long days are now behind me. Lastly, graduation was a big goal for me because I had to make my family proud, but mostly to make myself proud. My grandmother was extremely excited because I was the first to graduate out of her generation. Neither my mother nor my uncle graduated and my grandmother feels she has finally done right with someone. I got through high school without ever getting pregnant. There were many girls my age walking around with a baby bump or already had a child. There is nothing wrong with having a baby in school but it’s a hard decision to make. If I would have chosen to have a baby in high school, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. Raising a child would take from my dreams. My mother did not graduate because she had me at sixteen. She dropped out and has always told me to do better than her. Having a baby would have cut short my dreams, and the dreams my mother had for me. Graduating with honors showed that I did go to school and did more than enough to get by; I did what was required plus more. Walking across that stage with the extra sashes on my gown was a great feeling. Looking out into the stands and everyone is rooting for you. I knew I had made it when I heard the cries and screams. In conclusion, graduation had been one of my biggest goals, because it made me one step closer to my dreams. I learned to manage time between school and everyday life, eight hours days were finally to an end, and most importantly I had made myself and my family proud. When it was all done there was no more looking back. I have to say high school wasn’t all it was cut out to be. Graduating had been well worth it and now I look forward to graduating from college.