College Admissions Essay: Junior Year In High School

Junior year was that year in high school when I realized that I wanted to become recognized as someone in my school. I wanted to become involved in everything because I knew that next year, as a senior, I would start on my college applications and wanted to write down a list of accomplishments to brag about. There was a variety of sports to get into, but I thought that getting into well-recognized clubs would definitely make me look like an accomplished student.

I started off by signing up for the National Honors Society. I knew that these positions were for students that stood out, those with the right grades and worked hard, so I expected to get in. I knew this opportunity would definitely be a great step for me. At school I received a letter from NHS and I believed I got in. A few minutes later, there was an announcement to recognize those students who admitted into our first NHS. I waited. Names were called up, one being my older brother, and I waited to receive my recognition, but announcements were over. Rereading the letter, it was actually a letter of denial and I was not accepted because they believed my grades were not up to par. I felt like an idiot, I couldn't decide if the worst feeling was going home to parents that were proud of only one child or the feeling that my expectations were not met.

Since my school is fairly small, all four grades are split up into 12 groups which we call “houses”, technically homerooms. I signed up to become a house representative. I was thinking of the endless possibilities on how I can make house better and bring us together as a small community. However; I had competition and found out that I ran only to lose. Again, I felt like a failure and I couldn’t believe that I worked hard for unwanted