In the August before my sophomore year of high school, a challenge emerged. My dad had passed away. Of course you would read that and automatically think about how that would affect me in many ways. However no one, not even myself, was aware of the many challenges that went with this.…
Walking into the locker room about to get ready to go to our last football game of the season. I could smell the sweaty equipment from the kids who never take their pads home. The Hempfield Spartans 7th grade team would be ending their season 0-7 if we didn’t win today. As I was changing into my pads my friend mike walked in the room. I said “you ready for tonight”. “Heck yeah” replied Mike.…
Change. From the first breath inhaled to the last, we change hundreds, thousands, of millions of times throughout the entirety. These changes may not always be so obvious, whereas others are blaringly distinct. Change is inevitable, especially as the environment, technology, economy, and people develop. Us, human beings, we are flexible, able to adapt and survive. However, as we adapt to these changes, we can not let these changes compromise our beliefs and principles by which we abide and hold close to our hearts.…
Filled with nervous excitement, my ten-year-old-self ran to the bulletin board eager to discover whether or not he was accepted to the choir. As he read the list of who were chosen, his heart sank; he was not on the list. “Maybe I should give up singing ” he thought; “Maybe my voice is not good enough”. However, he refused to despair; he was determined to achieve his goals despite this failure.…
My mother, “Regina Hopkins,” has been a positive influence in my life. She has raised 6 kids all by herself as well as earned a Bachelor’s degree in nursing from a City College in Gainesville, Florida. My mother has been through pretty much everything a person can go through outside of war and was still able to be there and provide for all 6 of her kids. In high school, my mother wanted to play football and couldn't because she was a girl and back-in-the-day women were not allowed to play football with the guys. However, she remained strong by raising 6 kids and independently took care of all of us on her own. My mother has several qualities that I would love to develop. The first quality she has is balance; she certainly knows how to make…
Success through struggle is a story of one young soldiers attempt at something great. Through the struggles that I endure in this story of my attempts of joining an elite military organization are a testament to Army Values and the warrior ethos. You will learn that even if you do not succeed at first you will find success in other avenues. This story is not for quitters it is for those who enjoy tales that show triumph of the mind, body, and spirit.…
My whole life I have been a leader, the rule maker, the boss, a take charge and a "get stuff done" type of person. These qualities I attribute to being the oldest sibling, raised by a strong mother, and a stepfather determined to raise another man’s child as best he could. I thrive in situations where I can have control and can help guide a team or myself to the best possible outcome. I apply these characteristics to nearly every aspect of my life, sometimes to a fault. After dropping out of college eight years previously, to follow my dreams of being a makeup artist, I woke up one day and decided my life need a change. Not completing school had always weighed on me over the years like an unfinished task needing to be done. So, why now, what changed? My outlook on life shifted after meeting a special little boy named Jackson.…
Moving on is easy but what you leave behind is what makes it hard. Once you get to a certain age in your life you know you have to move on sometime. I know times are hard but you have to push yourself toward what you really want in life even if it means moving away from what you love.…
After all the ups and downs in my life none of those things stopped me in achieving my dreams in 2012 the year that I received my associates the most emotional moment in my life when I had walked and made my family proud of me. I know it doesn’t seem a lot to many people but to me was the beginning of a very successful life and making a difference in my life and many others. Not only I did this for myself but for my nephews (my brothers kids) to show them that it takes a lot of hard work to achieve for our dreams but anything is possible in life as long as we don’t give up, hopefully inspire them to go far in life. I want to make a change in my family’s lives and make things better for all of us.…
During my first semester as a college freshman I have grown a lot not only as a student, but also as a person. At first I thought of myself as a good writer, but throughout the semester I learned that I had a lot of improvements to make in my writing. Already I have made a lot of progress and will continue to improve throughout the rest of the year in core.…
In sixth grade, I stood before a podium that stared back at my English class. This was not how I envisioned sharing my love for reading and writing; however, it was required. My palms felt sticky, and I just knew that the entire class could see my heart as it was about to hop from the walls that kept it safe. I prayed that I would not forget the lines as I recited The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. In sixth grade, reading, writing, and I started a relationship. Today, we have yet to break up.…
Ever since I was born, I was a military brat. Not knowing where to call home, or if any place could be home, I moved. I moved six times, four of those places were towns that nobody could think about. Germany, North Carolina, Alaska, North Carolina, Germany, and Alaska, yet no place to call home. May 22, 1999, my first day on this world; Kronach hospital had its first American baby in their hands, yet they acted like I was a different species. The only event I remember was when I was about one. While I was one, I grabbed everything in my reach, even a grill handle. As a baby, I did not know that the handle was moving, the grill top had smashed my thumb. Ever since that event, I now have a starfish mark on the side of my right thumb from where the stiches were.…
Finally, when I moved to New Orleans I started volunteer work at the Children’s Hospital and helped with pop up clinics for the Latino community twice. Overall I found that helping others shouldn't be something seen as duty or mandatory, it should be spontaneous. Through others experiences and hardships we learn and grow as human beings, not only did I enjoy helping others but I felt that it helped me with my problems. Having moved around so much and meet so many people and living by myself so many years I came to truly be thankful for my blessings and specially for my hardships. Hermann Hesse once said, "I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value." Helping others made me realize that we all need help and that my way to help others would be through their health. It also taught me not to judge anybody, especially if you don't know what they have been through. I am hard believer that everything happens for a reason, and all the weekends I spend watching my parents help others helping others myself made me the determined person that I am today. Finally, the most important lesson I learned was to never give up, no matter how hard the task is or how bad the problem is there will always be someone willing to help and you can always be both sides to that, the helper or the one who needs…
Throughout my life, countless problems have plagued me, some more serious than others. Many of these issues were conquered with the help of my friends, leading to a closer bond with them. Other times, the issues have resolved themselves, providing me with more of a learning experience. There are those obnoxious problems I have not been able to solve, the issues that pester me months after they first occur. These are the problems that have truly tested my abilities and beliefs and made me think carefully.…
Learning from mistakes is a key part of life. I myself have had to learn from my mistakes. Over the summer I cut my foot outside. I spent the whole night in the worst hospital, then I got 18 stitches in the bottom of my foot. It also set back my ability to play football. My mistake was going outside without shoes, now I wear my shoes all the time.…