Essay Sample on My Academic Career

Life is revolved around the choices we make, they make up who we are and how we develop as individuals. Yet not everyone's choices lead them to the brightest of paths, which is something every individual dreads. With my academic experiences, goals, and plans, I anticipate succeeding in my family’s name to guide a bright path of success for not only myself but for future generations.

My academic career has focused on exploring who I am as a person, which serves as a foundation for what I want out of my path to success. During my fourth-grade year, I envied my peers simply because they got all A’s, though the reality was, I was insecure about my B’s. My insecurity peaked when I attended a private school within fifth grade and now, I was competing against the children of professionals such as doctors and lawyers. I remember I disliked an intelligent girl in my class because she would constantly show off her academic prowess. I became annoyed by her behavior so much that I made it my goal to perform better than her academically. After weeks of attempting my best, I was handed my report card and my grades were all A’s. At that moment, I felt a feeling I’d never experienced before, fulfillment, which served as the spark of something I couldn’t imagine myself doing. After a while of attending that school, I became bored of school overall because it seemed as if I was living the same day, so I decided to join the archery team. The following year, I joined the robotics club and that’s when I made the realization, that school doesn’t have to be a burden, rather, it can be a place that promotes passions while still providing an education. 

Unfortunately, after I established myself in my school, I had to move to Elgin for my eighth-grade year. I was dreadful because I haven’t been in a public school setting for a while and believed I was no longer going to be around the top of my class. On top of all of this, COVID was at its peak, so adjusting to online classes was going to be difficult. I was registered a week late, meaning most of my work was “missing”, so when I first looked at my grades after a week, I was bewildered because they were the lowest I ever had with the highest one being a thirty-three. At this point, I experienced an extreme form of fixation, it felt as if my thoughts became so overwhelming to where my train of thought was stunted. Eventually, I calmed down and began to think of solutions. I thought to myself, “Should I just give up”? It seemed like a viable option until I came up with a much simpler one, just do the work. I wasn’t in favor of this idea and didn’t consider it at some point because it seemed difficult, I had over forty past due assignments as well as current work. I contemplated what my next course of action should be, but then I remembered my grandfather. As a child, since he was so poor, he would have to eat trash from the neighbors, yet, he was still able to establish himself as a prominent figure in his town and did business with a millionaire. It made me realize how through sheer will, you can get yourself out of any situation. I would consider this realization to be the most significant turning point in my life because at this moment,t I identified myself as lazy for not doing more work than usual while my grandfather would force himself to wake up to get himself out of the same situation I dread. To this day, I still use the same mindset and while it may be considered to be unhealthy, I perceive it as contrary, as to how my grades have drastically improved and are considered to be remarkable.

Through my hard work and dedication, I was accepted to the Early College High School, so I anticipate several benefits once I earn my Associate's degree. My primary reason for joining this program is through the financial benefits if that’s how they’re regarded. From being in this program, I hope to save money so that my mother doesn’t have to pay as much when I attend a university. Another reason why I’m in this program is to just be ahead, which is something I’ve always enjoyed doing. From my efforts, I ultimately hope to earn my Associate's degree as well as all the other credits from my plan. As I’ve previously stated, this program is significant to me because I’m able to save money and also be better prepared for when I go off to a university, since it’s a drastically different setting compared to a high school one. At the moment, the main area of study I’m hoping to do in the future is pre-medicine studies though I might reconsider something such as biochemistry. As you can tell, I wouldn’t classify my goals to be clear, yet it’s an issue I contemplate everyday. 

So far, with my success, I consider myself to be on the right path to success. Taking this class has helped me figure out who I am more than in all my previous academic years combined, meaning, I’ve been able to understand the way I act and why I am the way I am. As a learner, I’ve been able to recognize that writing has developed to be one of my greatest strengths while creativity is something I lack in. I plan to further develop my writing skills, though I’ll have to prioritize my creative thinking so that I can use it with critical thinking and become a better problem solver. Based on my multiple intelligences assessments, I’ve incorporated effective strategies that favor my most developed “intelligences” such as note cards and taking extra notes. These strategies specifically have significantly improved how I score on tests and I plan to use others to further enhance my testing ability.

When reflecting on what I want to do in my future, I have several goals in mind, some are simple while others are more complicated. Firstly, a goal that I’ve previously stated was earning my Associate's degree in liberal arts from the ECHS program. Earning my degree won’t be easy, and I recognize that it’s going to take dedication to achieve, yet thinking back to my past experiences, one of my main priorities is success and I will do almost anything to achieve it, so I don’t believe I’ll face an issue regarding motivation. Another goal that I have is to eventually become a physician. While it may sound simple, becoming a physician is a long-term goal, meaning that it’s comprised of smaller goals such as majoring in a science, passing the MCAT, attending medical school, becoming an intern, becoming a resident, and so on. I want to become a physician primarily because I have an affinity for helping people and also because I find it to be a job where I’m able to make enough to provide for my family. Finally, the most significant goal that I have in mind is to be happy. In today’s age, it seems that happiness has become more elusive, which can be due to a myriad of reasons, yet I plan to overcome that. This goal sounds very simple, yet I find it to be the most difficult one to pursue since there’s no textbook or universal explanation on how to become it. I see my mother and other family members face depression, and while I’ll inevitably face it myself, to some degree I want to overcome all of those negative emotions so that I can become the best version of myself.

I anticipate becoming successful not only to provide for myself, but also for my family through all of my academic experiences, goals, and plans that I’ve carefully set for myself. From learning how to become more than what I am, learning how to overcome feelings of laziness, taking advantage of opportunities that will provide me with significant benefits in the future, applying my knowledge to enhance my performance, to finally, making difficult, though achievable plans for myself, I believe that I’ve set myself on the right path to reach my desirable perception of success. Ultimately, a big takeaway that I have for myself after reflecting is to always value my development as an individual and to be open with who I am.