I’ve never been unfortunate enough to have anything traumatic happen to me, and my grades have never plummeted only to be turned back around with some inspirational story. So naturally, when it came to writing this essay, I struggled. However, in writing this, I found that despite what I described to you in the beginning, high school has been an experience where I was forced to grow and overcome to become something very important. Myself.
When I entered high school I was following two older sisters, both of whom were division 1 state track champions as well as good students. They had aspirations to become doctors, vets, and TV anchors. Mine was to be a cook. A chef was how I liked to put it. However, I wasn’t supposed to want to cook, I was supposed to eat, sleep, and breathe track. I was also supposed to love science and math. While I do really enjoy track, I struggled with the others, they just weren’t what I wanted to be doing. They weren’t me. I tried to deal with it though, tried to live up to my sisters. This was not an easy feat; both of my sisters were two of the best track athletes ever to go through Arrowhead, holding records in multiple track and field events. I managed to put forth a good effort though, taking all the same classes and even managing decent grades in them. I even put on a happy face while doing it. I did my best to repeat everything they did. Teachers even began to call me Katie, after my sister. I hated it.
It wasn’t until after my junior year that it finally hit me. I wasn’t my sister, and I needed to stop trying to be her. I started to take all the courses that I enjoyed my senior year, and I found the initiative to work to achieve my goals. I would go to college and earn a degree in business degree, then go to cooking school and open my own restaurant. I have stopped trying to be my sisters, and in trying not to be them, I became myself.
So here I sit a senior in high school writing college statements in a Starbucks on a rainy Tuesday night. I’ve done track and field all four years and managed to beat both of my sisters’ records. I’ve always been my sister’s shadow and now, I am Liz. I hope that you too see the potential that is there