Undergraduate / 'Going through high school' - UF Admissions Event Essay [5]

I'm currently very close to 500 words, so if you'd like to find anything I could remove that would be awesome! I just wrote it today so I'm sure it needs a lot of editing. And I'm currently in the process of removing the "be verbs" Thank you :)

ESSAY:

Twelve hour days, unbearable heat, and a long list of smoothies all describe my four year-long meaningful event. This event is high school. High school involved a ridiculous amount of AP classes, color guard practices, and squeezing in enough time to work. What made high school so meaningful wasn't passing these AP exams or winning a few competitions, it was being able to successfully balance all of these things and enjoy myself in the process.

"The best four years of your life", a quote often overused when describing what is to be anticipated in high school. I've found that it may not be the best, but it's certainly the busiest. I have never been one of those students who can get good grades without studying, I've spent endless hours re-reading chapters and making flashcards in order to succeed. For every grade I've gotten, I've worked for it. This of course became increasingly harder as I began to challenge myself by juggling a larger number of AP classes as well as developing a broader curiosity for learning.

Joining my school's color guard team freshman year, seemed like an excellent opportunity to get involved as well as a means to meet these new people that I would be spending my next four years with. I was in for a treat; we had practice about ten hours a week, as well as football games every Friday, and band competitions that would last from early morning until late at night. I was in a constant battle between utter exhaustion and meeting the high demands of my teachers. The best feeling however, was not giving up, but managing to have a four hour practice and acing my tests the next day.

Just when I thought that life couldn't be any busier, my junior year I got a job in hopes of getting a small taste of the "real world" before having to blindly step into it. Every day that I wasn't practicing or even sometimes after practice, I was making smoothies like there was nothing else I needed to do -which was quite the opposite- eventually I began to thrive at work and loved the idea that hard work could get you anywhere. Eventually I was promoted to a manager position at my job and I was even happier with my success, although then I began to have even less time than before.

High school was such a meaningful event because it pushed me farther than I have ever been pushed to before. Going through high school the way I did - experiencing and dealing with these situations- will allow me to thrive at the University of Florida, not only just in academics, but in anything else I wish to do. Although a lot will be required of me, my experiences in high school have prepared me for any situation that might be thrown at me and I'll be able to represent UF in the best possible way.

Undergraduate / 'all of my failures centered around one thing, learning' FSU Admissions Essay [4]

Okay the topic is:

Florida State University is more than just a world-class academic institution preparing you for a future career. We are a caring community of well-rounded individuals who embrace leadership, learning, service, and global awareness. With this in mind, which of these characteristics appeal most to you and why?

Any other ideas, critiques, anything you guys have would be helpful! Thanks :)

I have always been told that "if you try your hardest you're still a winner". That concept has always been a hard one for me to swallow, how is it that I can place dead last in my 6th grade spelling bee because I stumbled over the spelling of "convenience" and still be considered a winner? Not to mention the embarrassing 9th grade Student Council elections where I lost by a landslide. How is that considered winning? I later realized that all of my failures centered around one thing, learning.

This realization came to me during my first two years in high school. I had attended a small private school for most of my life, where I was able to be at the top of my class given the extremely small class sizes and the little variety of classes available. Once I stepped foot into high school and began to take honors and AP classes and finally started challenging myself, I increasingly became aware that I couldn't be number one in the class. There was always someone beating me. I received a 92 on my Chemistry final exam sophomore year that I spent hours studying for, but naturally I was beat by the genius in teenage form that just simply showed up on test day. However, I was learning. I wasn't just learning knowledge that you get out of the textbook, but from not being the best and being able to learn from this.

I will probably never be the best at anything, but I'm completely okay with that. If I'm able to learn, retain information, and grow from my experiences what else do I need? Florida State will allow me to further embrace my learning skills and learn that it's okay to not be the best, as long as I give it all I have. After all life is just one, big learning experience.