Sophomore Challenge

During those semesters, I relapsed in my battle with depression. I was originally diagnosed at the age of nine but learned to manage the disease with the proper tools of guidance of professionals. The transition from college to the next step presented me with many new challenges that reignited my triggers. After having the disease in remission for so long, I had forgot how to handle my struggles on a day to day basis, so my academics took a hit. The process of learning to cope, build myself back up, and continue moving forward has been tough but has made more confident in who I am as a person, a student, and as a future

My journey through undergrad was similar to a flight going through a lot of turbulence. I came in knowing what I had to do, make Good grades, shadow doctors, and volunteer/participate in community service. However, there were a lot of trials and tribulations. It was not until after my freshman year when I hit rock bottom academically that my whole world

The series of failures compelled me to worked harder each year. I kept improving my grades, took harder courses and the results started to see as I finally achieved a 4.0 GPA after my last semester. Likewise, my ceiling hitting ego cooled down and I learned how to be humble. Body wise, I started to eat more nutritious foods and developed my passion for running. The failure from a lack of effort during freshman year lead to motivation as I would constantly remind myself about that failure whenever I felt like I had enough with school and all of the workload.

A significant challenge that I faced that I thought I might not accomplish was in sophomore year. I believed I would not be able to pass my science class. I was almost failing the entire year but the last quarter was the worst. The teacher made a huge test that would help anyone that was almost failing and I studied every night until the test which was for about a month and a half. I was sure I would still end up failing because I wasn’t sure about many of the topics we had discussed. On testing day, we had time before the test to study even more and I had one of my friends test me with flashcards that I created; there was over one hundred of them. While taking the test, I was freaking out and ended up not answering some of the questions because

My sophomore year at Central High School did not start out the best. I was recovering from an awful grade point average, awful for me at least, I was sitting the bench in a sport that I had lost interest in, and overall I just did not enjoy school anymore. I personally did not see the point in coming to school at all. It took some time, but I finally started to get my grades up, my season had ended for football, and I knew I was not going back. After everything was starting to go my way I started thinking, “What am I going to do next?”

It’s very surprising to be honest. If I rewind my life to the very beginning of junior year, I would have never suspected that I would encounter multiple hardships one after another, each excessively worse than the last. Yes, junior year was extremely tough domestically and socially but little did I know that my horrid problems at home would affect me academically. Undeniably it was my will power and my strong belief in never giving up which steered my grades and my life to the straight path and made me realize that mistakes happen in life for a reason, they happen so we can learn from them, so we can share our story with others and help them avoid the hardships we encountered. When I reminisce at my junior year, I don’t extract sadness or

change myself for the better, when in actuality it made the challenge much worse. I was

Sophomore year turned out to be the worst year that I’ve experienced in all my 16 years and 3 months of living. Remember when I said that the advice given to me by one of my teachers was engraved to the deepest part of my brain? That means that I didn’t remember that until a couple of months ago. But, it was already too late. I was already knee-deep in the mess I created.

My junior year, especially the summer following, became a pivotal period in my life. I obtained many new responsibilities and participated in many different experiences that shaped me closer to the person I seek to become as an adult. I had recently earned my driver’s license, which required months of hard work and commitment. I then began my first job, working the front desk providing customer service at my community pool and additionally took on a leadership role by volunteering in my local community. These responsibilities helped me to develop new life skills.

Waking up that morning May 21 2015 with a big smile on my face saying today I made it! Senior year was kind of a struggle for me trying to make top 10% of my class, work 2 jobs and attend extracurricular activities and groups such as ROTC French club ,Spanish etc. and manage a social life .It was a lot on my shoulders being that I goofed off my other years. Each day that year I would wake up and motivate myself to keep pushing and pushing to I reach my goal .There was nothing stopping me I mean nothing at all people would talk saying things like “oh he’s not going to pass you”. Friends would doubt me but that just pushed me to grind even harder .yeah I’m not gone lie there was many days I wanted to fall back into my old ways and skip

I could not stand it much longer with all the assignments, and the fact that I was going through the same problem as I did back in the earlier years of schooling with my grades and GPA dropping. As the senior year began, I just could not wait to get it all done. Nearing the end of my senior year, I began slipping up academically, which made it nearly impossible to make it to graduation. As graduation day was approaching, anxiety ripped me apart because I knew I messed up academically, but I finished out with a punch. Later, I was informed that I would be walking across that stage. Graduation day arrives, all the graduating seniors, and myself are gathered within an arena, so many families screaming at the top of their lungs out of excitement. As I am watching the line go in alphabetical order up to the stage to collect their diplomas, I could not help but reminisce upon the moments that made high school what they were. As they mention my name, I make my way up to the stage to pick up my diploma, then as I walk off that stage, I make a loud shout saying “ALL DONE.” As soon as the graduation concluded, I began making my way to my car, that very minute is the minute that I regret the most because that is when I said that I would never return back to school again. Three years later, I am now back in school watching all the friends that I made in middle school, and high school graduating from college. I am glad I did begin school, even if it was three years

I believe in constantly challenging myself as it is only then that you feel the exhilaration of victory. As soon as

The summer after my sophomore year an experience changed me. I attended a Syracuse Summer College Program to study Fashion Design and Creative Writing. There I became friends with a small group of kids who were incredibly self motivated. Working with and around them inspired me to try harder.

After reflecting a little I thought about the many different things that happen to me since freshman year. Since freshman year I now understand and accept myself for how I am. During freshman year I was trying to figure out where I fit in at but now I understand I am not meant to fit it. What has also changed is the amount of people I surround myself with. At this moment I would say I have two real friends. It was a hard reality to me at first because I was so used to having a lot of friends. Another thing that changed was losing many family members and having to deal with pain. One thing I can say from losing my family members was it made me stronger. Something that I

My first year at Montclair State University, was something that was completely unexpected. I went into my first year with an expectation to succeed. Yet, I was hit something different. My mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer. My worries did not just stop there, because I had to fight a long case with Great Oak Charter School for the mistreatment of my special needs sister. Stepping in the role of the head of household was physically, emotionally, and mentally draining. There was no time for me heal from the events taking place, because I had to sustain my family in all aspects even financially. As I tried so hard to hold an exterior that I was fine, my whole being began to plunge. I abandoned my studies to focus on my family. Yet, I didn’t