Undergraduate / Global UGRAD 2021. Describe a time when you encountered a conflict and how you handled it [3]

What strategies did you use to reach a resolution? What values guided your thoughts and actions?

Please help me estimate if this is a decent essay to get a chance of attending a student exchange program, I would appreciate any feedback :)

Whenever I think about the pains and sorrows of life, my mind begins to conjure up the images of ancient warriors, their greatest victories and tragic losses, the times when people lived on the edge and fought for their survival by day and night. However, qualities like bravery and perseverance aren't limited by an era, and modern world doesn't lack challenges for us to cope with. Hence, everyone has a chance to be a self-made hero, to fight against limitations and deal with uncertainty. We can all create our little triumph stories, draw huge inspiration from the smallest wins and prove that humans are much more than meets the eye.

I am incredibly lucky to have such a story, which began upon my finishing of secondary school. Having sailed through the exams and entered the lyceum with 12 applicants per place, I was full of hope and inspiration, dreamt of promising future and promised myself to continue dreaming. I was reaching for the stars and received immense support from my family in all endeavors. Two years of high school went by like a flash - I made friends for life, realized myself academically, performed on stage, took part in volunteering campaigns and learned Polish to pursue my further education abroad.

The news from my parents came out of the blue right before graduation. It turned out that there was no chance of them supporting me financially due to an unexpected shortage of money, and all the plans I had been making were to be changed in less than a week. More than two years of effort crushed into nothingness, and that week stroke me more than anything before. I was frustrated and scared, but most of all disoriented, lonely and completely lost.

But there was one realization - that I felt anything but powerless - which became a true turning point and made me who I am today. That understanding pushed me beyond the limits of habit and comfort, so I took a break to earn some money and reevaluate the situation. While all my friends were sharing the impressions of being freshmen, I began working part-time and reflecting on my priorities. I was succeeding and failing at job interviews, trying myself at a variety of activities and ensuring I would have enough money to study further. At the end of the year I got a steady job as a teacher and entered my current university, but most importantly, got to know myself from a whole other angle.

That was the time of conflicts between high expectations and unpredictable reality, between a worried parent and a hesitant child, between stability and adventure. However, I focused on the main principle, and that is being in control of one's life and actions. The thing I kept in mind was that all of us have a set of abilities, a potential, which we have to fulfill in order to feel happy and bring something worthy to the world. I managed to cement my old friendships, built strong bonds with new inspiring people, learned to rely on myself wholeheartedly and be at peace with change.

People often look up to leaders, because they make everyone feel powerful and in control, they evoke a sense of freedom and present us with an idea that everything is possible. That only works when we are brave enough to accept that not everything will go as planned. Yet in the process we may discover our hidden talents and inspire others to be their own heroes, who, as the proverb goes, make delicious drinks out of sour lemons of life.