College Admissions Essay: A Great Challenge

A Great Challenge

Challenging yourself takes commitment and great drive. The hardships endured to accomplish the goals set before you are often easily dismissed by those around you. This is expected because in many cultures including our own, it is hard to sympathize with your neighbors’ car troubles while you yourself have a leaky roof to worry about. Nevertheless, everyday we accept challenges with the knowledge that they did not earn their name by being an easy feat. During my junior year of high school, I decided to join those who dared to challenge themselves. With confidence by my side I felt as though I could handle anything. I decided to challenge myself academically by taking on as many classes as I could; including honors classes,

Before I knew it I had received my first report card in November and I was a little less than content with my grades. However, I decided that it was nothing to worry about because I would just have to study a little harder in order to improve them. Weeks went by and I was following through with my plan. However, I noticed that I started to take longer to do my homework. When I received my second report card I was happy to see that my grades did improve and that the hard work was paying off. Thinking that my plan was working I played off concern from friends and family joking that ‘sleep is a luxury that I could not

For weeks I averaged four hours of sleep, going to bed at 12:00 am and waking up at 4:00 am to hastily finish what I did not do earlier that night. At this point in the year, no amount of coffee could save me. I’d find myself falling asleep at the dining room table and waking up late with my homework still unfinished. I managed to handle this most days by working on assignments during lunch or other classes. Throughout the year my problems escalated. I began waking up in the middle of the night frantically rushing around my house thinking that I was late for school and trying to find time to finish my homework that was still incomplete before class started. I was a mess, I was no longer studying, and my grades were starting to show it. My life became all about work and I was constantly exhausted. I knew I had taken on too much, but because the school year was almost over I wanted to ride it out. In June, my Junior year had finally come to a close and I could not have been more grateful for summer