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Live Today…Strive for Tomorrow
My senior year is here, and passing quite quickly. Each day “I walk with a purpose, but no destination” (Ehrlich 232). I’ve had this same purpose etched in my mind since I can remember, it occasionally changes, ever so slightly, but remains consistent—to surpass people’s expectations and achieve something out of the norm. College is around the corner, but where will that be, what will it be? Close to home? A Thousand miles away? Why am I so concerned with this aspect of life—is it because that’s what everyone else seems consumed with? Everyone is pushing me for tomorrow, but what happened to today? I’m losing sight of what is so close. I’ve forgotten about treasuring the moment, absorbing the experiences right here in front of me. We all want to grow up, move on, and encounter something better, but “when [we] run so fast to get somewhere, [we] miss half the fun of getting there. When [we] worry and hurry through [our] day, it’s like an unopened gift, thrown away” (unknown). I think it’s time to take a step back and look at all today has to offer, see the people around who love me, relish every moment with friends who won’t be here next year, and take a good look at myself. Why I am the way I am and am I headed in the right direction?
Joan Didion said that we are what we learned as children (161). I am fortunate enough to have grown up in a nurturing home with two stable parents. That has been the single most important influence on who I am today. The encouragement to do well and accomplish something in everything I do has been a constant force in my development. Winning— People often get caught up and forget that the reason they’re playing a game is to enjoy the experience....
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... life that happened in the past are the forevers because they live on in one’s memory. Those memories are so powerful—that’s what makes me want to make today worth something instead of always simply looking ahead. “Life is about the journey, not the destination”.
My senior year of high school…I want to enjoy people’s company, appreciate my family’s presence, and keep a permanent Polaroid of my “home town” etched in my memory. I have a purpose for the year, I know what I want to accomplish for the future, but I have to remember to make the most out of today because there may not always be a tomorrow.
Works Cited
Didion, Joan. “On Morality.” Slouching Towards Bethlehem. New York; Noonday,
1995 (1961).
Ehrlich, Gretel. “Looking for a Lost Dog.” Encounters: Reading and the World. 229-233.
Stockton, Jessica. “Eternity’s Corner.” Mercer Street. 52-54.
Walking into Walnut Hills High School right now would have anyone thinking the just walked into the middle of a tornado. Everyone you look there are students running in and out of doors, in and out of cars, and most certainly either turning in missing assignments or retaking tests. There is only one way for you to explain all this ciaos, Senior Year, the year that all teens await with so much excitement and ambition and the year that every single hour long study dates pays off. For the class of 2021 this isn’t just their final year at Walnut Hills this is the year that friends separate and head off to their different university to follow their dreams.
As I reflect on my college life, I wonder about the choices I have made that have led me to where I am today and that will guide me into shaping who I long to become. The things I have had to sacrifice, the support and experiences I have had with family, friends, strangers and work colleagues. I don’t know what I will be doing three months or thirty years from now but I do know that I want to have new experiences. When I graduated from high school, I knew I didn’t want to be that person that moved back to the same town and stayed there for the rest of my life. I even contemplate leaving the United States in my adult life. Who really knows, maybe those cards are still in the deck. For now, I know my immediate goals include focusing on completing my college education the best I can, and moving away from my comfort zone, broadening my horizons and taken risks.
It is expected that within a span of four years drastic changes can occur to any person. An example of such case is our experience throughout four years of high school or college; it is a time in which each obstacle that we surpass will become an experience that builds character. We have all left our childhood behind, but we have yet to taste the full essence of adulthood. Within these years of being cast astray to find our own paths, it is common for us students to experience regular episodes of anxiety, stress, and crippling self-doubt.
Walter Kirn successfully unearths some of the worst aspects of senior year. However, these reasonings are not sound enough to condone the discontinuation of it. Any issues found are the fault of the student or the school administration, not the grade level itself. Senior year is worth holding on to for both the persistence of learning and for solidifying relationships. Kirn mentions with pleasure his choice to leave high school early. Nonetheless the four year high school experience should not be demoralized by those who wish to value it for the irreplaceable opportunity it is.
People say high school is supposed to be the golden years of your life. I don’t know what else in life is to come; however, my philosophy is to live in the moment and make the life you’re living in the present worthwhile into the future, not only for you but for those who surround you. I live my life participating in our community and getting involved in our school. The activities, and the people I’ve formed relationships with, are what have formed me into the person I am today. The person I am today is not perfect, but I have learned from the mistakes I’ve made.
In Paul Toughmay’s “Who Gets to Graduate,” he follows a young first year college student, Vanessa Brewer, explaining her doubts, fears, and emotions while starting her college journey. As a student, at the University of Texas Brewer feels small and as if she doesn’t belong. Seeking advice from her family she calls her mom but after their conversation Brewer feels even more discouraged. Similar to Brewer I have had extreme emotions, doubts, and fears my freshman year in college.
You go three years of high school preparing for college and at the same time having fun. Until you are in your senior year of high school that’s when you realize and start asking your self what college do I want to go to? Or what college career I want to pursue? That’s when you notice you have but so little time to answer these questions. Me I’m in my last year of high school and I though I already knew what career I wanted to pursue, but its now that I notice that not even I know what I’m going to do with my life? All I’m sure of its that I’m going to graduate out of high school with a diploma and that I’m going to college. But what happens after that? What major did I study? Or where did I go to accomplish my goal?
Senior year. The year known for its “lasts” of everything and the start of one 's adulthood. It’s also a busy part of life- college applications, college acceptance, graduation, and even get to know what the terminal disease “senioritis” feels like. Senior year is the last year that I will get the chance to cheer on the football team every Friday night, running track every Thursday, as well as seeing my favorite teachers on a day to day basis. This year is my year, the year that is going to change everything that I have ever known. Senior year is the year that will impact myself, my friends, my family, as well as everyone that surrounds me. It will be the year of change.
"Tomorrow is the first day of what I will become." I wrote this in my diary the night before my first day of college. I was anxious as I imagined the stereotypical college room: intellectual students, in-depth discussions about neat stuff, and of course, a casual professor sporting the tweed jacket with leather elbows. I was also ill as I foresaw myself drowning in a murky pool of reading assignments and finals, hearing a deep, depressing voice ask "What can you do with your life?" Since then, I've settled comfortably into the college "scene" and have treated myself to the myth that I'll hear my calling someday, and that my future will introduce itself to me with a hardy handshake. I can't completely rid my conscience from reality, however. My university education and college experience has become a sort of fitful, and sleepless night, in which I have wonderful dreams and ideas, but when I awaken to apply these aspirations, reality sounds as a six thirty alarm and my dreams are forgotten.
As young girl with big dreams I imagined my senior year of high school to be one of the best years of my life. I imagined going to homecoming with all of my friends, being the captain of the varsity soccer and cheerleading teams, going to Friday night football games, going to Prom with my perfect date, and going on a senior trip with all of my best friends. I never imagined my senior year to be the way that it is. I am the new kid.
Katharine Butler Hathaway once said, “A person needs at intervals to separate from family and companions and go to new places. One must go without familiars in order to be open to influences, to change.” In doing this, I broadened my horizons and changed my outlook on life. Now, as I move on to college, I am leaving my family and friends again to educate and better myself so that I am prepared to walk down any path on the road of life.
Imagine it is one’s first day in high school. Standing in front befalls the entrance way to your new future, thinking of what lies ahead from the perspective of a middle school grad. One would perhaps have mixed emotions as to what to expect. Observing the new students around the corridors, it transpires as if they are dragging their feet to progress inside, for the reason that they are fresh from the blissful summer days; they are in exchange, yet again, to the reality of school homework, projects, reports and tests. Some have queries and doubts in their minds; what does one expect of themselves getting into a high school life such as this? “What remains in store for me, I wonder…” “This school year is going to be subsequently much tougher
As a young girl, I always felt as if I had so much to do, but so little time to do it. I would always push things off until the next day thinking, “Oh there is always tomorrow, it can wait.” But once you see a life flash before your eyes, everything seems to change.
In the college success strategies (COLL 101) class, we had explored various areas of future possibility. Throughout the quarter, We sketched out the big pictures of the future. We identified potential destination and explored the path to get there. In this reflection essay, I would like to talk about and reflect on personal development throughout the quarter.
As I have reflected on the examined life, intellectually, physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually, over the span of this semester and applied it to our own life, I have noticed a theme that links each of these dimensions together. Life is a journey of self discovery where individuals are constantly trying to come to terms with who they are as a person. Through this journey, individuals can find their calling or vocation in life, discover their potential, know one’s self, and even just make sense of life. Furthermore, I will examine this theme of self discovery in the context of each dimension and apply it to what I have learned over the course of this semester.