The Learning
On the surface I think I am like most young and modern American women: I take school seriously, I have
dreams and goals for the future that I am determined to make happen, and I don’t expect anyone to do
the hard work for me. I come from what is an increasingly normal background: my parents are divorced
and I live with my mom and sisters and only occasionally see my dad since he now lives on the other side
of the country, but I still feel very lucky to have a supportive, if spread out, family behind me. What makes
me different from the rest of the crowd though is how I choose to fill my time away from school. I come
from a middle income background so I knew I’d have to get a job in the summers and/or after school to
help fund college, but instead of getting the easiest job I could find like many of my friends, I purposely
sought work that would teach me new skills as well as give me a sense of fulfillment, which is why I
turned to coaching soccer and working as a camp counselor. I know that every summer I am out there I’m
helping the kids in my community, not only by watching to make sure they are playing with skill and
determination, but also by helping them learn invaluable life lessons, like how to be a good teammate and
friend, and how to settle disputes fairly and efficiently. I also have now added the title of waitress to my
resume and while at first glance this job may not seem to offer me skills useful in pursuing a college
degree, I have found it to offer incomparable training in multi-tasking, responsibility, money-management,
perseverance and compassion for others.
My grades have always been high and I am especially proud of this because I don’t naturally excel in all
subjects. Writing has always been a challenge for me because I find grammar to often be confusing,
spelling too, but I have learned through my involvement with many varsity level sports that quitting never
feels as good as conquering your own fears, which is why I have sought not only advanced placement
writing classes to really help me focus on mastering the written word, but I have also challenged myself to
take advanced placement Greek which, while very difficult, has helped me immensely with learning word
origins, giving me the foundations to figure out challenging words in English as well. I am now on the cusp
of attending college and preparing for a career, and I am confident that the determination I have displayed
thus far will only grow stronger as my course work becomes more demanding. At this point I think I want
to focus on a career in the law because the riddle of our legal system fascinates me and I really believe
that, coming from a divorced household myself, I could offer empathetic legal counsel to others facing the
ordeal of family court. I know that I am young and the career path I find myself on after earning an