PLEASE READ OVER FOR QUICK MISTAKES AND ADVICE. LAST MINUTE SCHOLARSHIP.
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Significant Setback/Challenge/Opportunity Essay (REQUIRED)
(Terry Scholarship Applicants: Use this essay to discuss an experience
demonstrating your leadership outside the classroom.) Describe a significant
setback, challenge or opportunity in your life and the
impact that it has had on you.
The fifth hour. Fingers burnt, eyes droopy, mind frazzled. Who would have ever thought a project could be this draining? I take a step back and look at my economics poster covered in die cut letters, three dimensional objects, and of course, glitter. It could use a little improvement, as everything always can, and I return to the operating room, a hot glue gun in one hand, glitter in the other- ready for surgery. For me, performing surgery does not fall far from the task at hand; precision and perfection is key. I will work until the project is flawless: the clock strikes midnight, one, two A.M., and the night is still young. I enter this monotonous cycle again and again; give me a project, and it will become a masterpiece.
If someone asked me to define the word perfection, I am not sure that I could do it. I am not sure that I could differentiate between beauty and organization, happiness and success. I am not sure that my adamant mind would focus enough to be able to understand even its own perception of perfection. The logical, rational part of me would monotonously respond, "The state of being perfect," but in reality, I would never find the perfect meaning of perfection. I would never be able to narrow my definition to a point of understanding. I am a perfectionist, and it has, in the past, been my biggest weakness.
Writing in straight lines, planning a sleepover, erasing stray marks, finding the right word, organizing by color, overanalyzing an essay, and fearing failure-some call it obsessive, and some call it crazy. It is not something I can explain, I cannot tell them why I must do everything a certain way. But I refuse to allow my faults to fall into just another category; I am not crazy and I do not have a disorder. Perfectionism is my driving force; it is the mold into which I have been shaped-it is the reason that I have been as successful as I am.
However, an obsession with perfection can turn out to be a double-edged sword - I am motivated by a need to succeed, as well as a fear of disappointment. And for a while, I alienated myself from this fear, this desire, only to discover that this will forever be a part of me. This will be a part of me for the rest of my life because I refuse to give it up. I refuse to furthermore call this a weakness; I refuse to view it as destructive. Therefore, instead of trying to overcome my weakness, I chose to harness my perfectionism. I chose to turn it into a beneficial quality, and I chose to embrace it.
Through this perfectionism, it has taught me to push myself to the limits. I will never turn in a project half-way complete or disappointing. This desire, this need to be perfect runs through my blood. I will continue to focus on harnessing this attribute because I know that as college approaches, time will become an issue. Twenty-four hours in a day must be enough. But I am ready to face this challenge, I am ready to compete. I am ready to tackle everything with my mind and my glitter bottle wide open.
My perfectionism has progressed from a burden to a challenge, and I have learned that it is only when I am tested that I realize who I am, and it is only when I am confronted with a problem that I understand who I can become.
At the end of the first paragraph, I reflect on the main idea I see: I will turn a project into a masterpiece.
But then the topic sentence for paragraph two seems out of place... like a random thing to say. You need a transition...
...give me a project. and it will become perfection.
If someone asked me to define the word perfection, I am not sure ...
I think they are looking for a story about an event that occurred. I'm sorry; I think this is not going to be very competitive because it is about an abstract concept instead of an event. I might be wrong, though!
BTW perfectionism is neurosis sometimes! In some situations, perfection is not as important as timing.
