Undergraduate / Vice President of the student government program [4]

Currently I am Vice President of the student government program at my school. I have been an active member since my freshman year. My junior year I was elected Treasurer. Throughout high school I have participated in many clubs and teams. I played basketball freshman year and since then I have become a member of my schools lacrosse team. I am also a member of the key club and the junior civitan club. I have enjoyed myself throughout high school but I don't think that I have made the most out of what my school had to offer.

As a senior at my high school I am reflecting on my high school experiences and what I have accomplished after all four years of high school. Growing up as a child before high school I was excellent student. I received mostly all A's in my classes with little effort or care. As I made the transition from middle to high school I did not think anything of it. I thought it would be the same as before, that I would be able to breeze by with a nonchalant attitude and little work. I was wrong. As the years went by my friends and classmates were given honors for the achievements in class and I received none, yet this did not bother me. To me, all of it did not seem important because I knew I was smart. As they thrived to improve their grades for colleges I keep my attitude and effort constant. College felt so distant in the future that I did not need to worry about it.

At the end of my junior year, I for the first time took a look at my GPA. At a very low 2.69 I was devastated. I had never realized that my grades had been so poor. I had never realized that I had wasted all four years of high school. I had never realized the possibility that I might not go to a good college, that despite my parents wishes I would fail them and not be the first in my family to attend a university. When the idea of not being able to go to the college of my choice hit me I was, in a way, awakened to the fact that I must really bust my behind in school.

As of now, I am giving my senior year in high school my all. Even though some of my friends are lightening their loads, I have increased my load in an attempt to improve my GPA and to prove to myself and others that I can do the work and that I will be successful in school and in life after college.