I'm open to any form of criticism.
One of the things that I possess is the capacity to dream big. As a kid that helped me come up with some interesting things for my brothers and I to do. Later on, it fueled me with the necessary motivation for me to work hard and improve myself. Along the way, I became interested in a number of things that I'm certain have placed on the road that will lead to the realization of my dreams.
Chief among my interests is baseball. For many years now, it has been my primary extracurricular pursuit. It's enabled me to become more well-rounded individual; not someone who just sits around all day with his eyes glued to a book or some sort of screen. Also, it has taught me many valuable lessons. The most important of these lessons is having the proper mindset. I have gone up to the plate believing that I was too good for the pitcher to get me out, and I have gone up to the plate believing that I couldn't get a hit no matter what I did. Needless to say, both instances didn't turn out well for me. Eventually, I realized that I was walking on a kind of tight rope. If I allowed myself to become overconfident, then I would fail. If I allowed myself to become overly negative, then that, too, would lead to failure. To be consistently successful, I had to find the proper mix between confidence, humility, relaxation, and aggressiveness. When I finally got it, my play skyrocketed. Not because I had become more talented, but because I had a greater understanding of how to control my mentality. On top of that, I also learned the importance of challenging myself to push my limits.
As a result, I was able to bring those same principles into the classroom. At the end of eighth grade, when all of us were signing up for our freshman year courses, a few of my friends tried to convince me to do what they were doing and take some "blow-off" classes. It didn't take very long for me to tell them that I wasn't going to be a partner in their laziness. There was nothing appealing about taking easy, non-challenging classes. They had nothing to offer in the way of personal growth and real preparation for college. That's one of the reasons why I have decided to take any Honors, Pre-AP, or AP classes that my high school offered. Through them, I was able to replace some of my bad habits with some good habits that will help me succeed when I get to college.
Aside from these experiences, high school has allowed me to figure out a lot of things about myself and who I want to be. After flip-flopping through different professions, I finally came to a decision about which career paths I would like to pursue-business and writing. I've always been good in the numbers and words department, and it seems like a career in business would be the perfect fit for me. On top of that, writing has long been an interest of mine. During my junior year, I entered a short story into the PTA Reflections Literature contest and I won the school competition, district competition, and a State Award of Merit. Thanks to that, I now believe that, with some polish, I could eventually become a successful professional writer.
As of right now, I feel that I'm heading in the right direction. My confidence is very high and I'm sure that I will experience a great amount of progress in the near future.
