Personal Narrative: My College Goals

The infamous answer to the question, “What is your primary goal for going to school?” is “to further my education, get a job, and be successful” such a cliché if I must say myself. My goal attending school is to make my family happy, as well as myself. In high school, I did not apply myself like I should have done because I was not sure if college was in my favor. Also, being the child of a single parent wanting to attend college seemed impossible, especially far from home. In a family where no one has surpassed the first two years of college, I feel a spotlight is on me to not only finish, but also finish strong. I know how proud my family will be of my accomplishment and how rewarding it will be for me trying to obtain a decent job in the

When my older sister went off to college, I had never seen a more driven, mature and intelligent 18 year old look so terrified and reluctant to leave her home just a few states away. Caroline had spent the majority of her high school years stressed, angry and tired, holed up in her single room acing more APs than I can count with two hands. My sister knew from the time she could read that success meant getting into an Ivy, even if the price was throwing away all human contact or not.

I believed my life was pre-determined the moment I began college. The five-year plan I constructed detailed how I was going to graduate with a computer science degree in three years and become head of a tech start-up company. I was going to be a female Mark Zuckerberg by the time I was 25, and nothing could stop me. My world was meticulously ordered down to the minute. So when that plan failed spectacularly, I was destroyed. The life I had set out for myself unraveled before my eyes I could do nothing about it. Worse still was that the failure was my own doing.

About a year ago, my dad got into a a very severe mountain biking accident. My 11 year old brother was with him and he called my mom and I for help. We could tell on the phone that he was panicked and afraid. So I grabbed the first aid kit and we rushed to the car and drove to where they had been riding. When we pulled up to the dirt parking lot we saw my little brother, he was shirtless and waving his arms for us. My mom and I later found out the shirt was used to help control my dads bleeding from the accident. We trekked for over a mile to where my dad was. I prepared my self for the worst because so far we had no details on what had happened, just that it wasn 't good. My mom and I turned a corner on the trail, and saw him. His whole face

The transition from high school can be very difficult. Going from knowing everything about a school, its programs as well as surroundings to not knowing anything basically is a huge change. Meeting new friends and connections in the area could be the most difficult of all. One of the most important things that I have learned since being here is finding you "niche" here at the University. Being successful in class and also out of class is the main objective in college. It is imperative to keep that the goal over top everything else you have going on.

The Honors College path has five different pathways which include: undergraduate research, study aboard, service learning, internships, and campus leadership. The two pathways that I will incorporate into my four years here at Western are service learning and internships. I have a love for helping the people not only in my community, but anywhere I can help. For my major, I will have to do internships and clinical rotations to obtain my degree. Even though I am only choosing two, I believe that they all may cross my path in the four years here at Western. All the Honors College pathways play a major part in making your time at Western Carolina as well as can expected.

At the CIA, “Food Is Life” means that food is a major ingredient in your life. To others food might mean good taste, but to me food means so much more. Food is what I see, obviously eat, but most importantly, it’s what I think about all day. Food means everything to me and that is why I wish to enroll into the CIA because I know that I will find my success there.

As I walked through Wahlert Catholic, I looked around to familiar faces and thought to myself this is the year I will put myself out there and try new things, and make new friends. Freshman Orientation, I sat in bleachers and thought to myself, What I am going to do with myself this year? To all freshman, sometimes you walk in not knowing what you may do but you will figure it out eventually. I made my decision on Golf.

As I end my sophomore year at Old Dominion University I think about all that I have accomplished in the past two years. I think about traveling to Peru and volunteering at an Hogar and Hospital as a Freshmen, Becoming Co-President of the Women’s ministry for ODU’s Catholic Campus Ministry, and to working hard and receiving good grades in all my classes. Not only do I think about all the work that I have done so far but I also think about my family and all the sacrifices they have made for me. I think about my parents waking up early every day to go to work just so we could have food on the table and a roof over our heads. I think about all they had to sacrifice when they fled from their country just so my siblings and I could grow up with more opportunities, and accomplish any goals we set ourselves without having to worry about whether or not tomorrow would come.

Getting involved means being apart of something more, having the chance to met different people, helping out the community, but its also means learning more about who you are as a person. Starting off at Washburn University I plan to get involved right away, in activities or clubs that would help my academically and socially like the Hispanic club , Freethinkers and French club.I will set goals for myself and achieve them, some small some big. One goal I am pursuing right now is learning french and Portuguese, i plan on going to Brazil next year. School goals, are turning in my work on time, stay focused on any task that is given to me, making sure I understand what i need to do and how to do it. I know that other people will have more experience than me in certain aspects but everyone at washburn is there to succeed.

In the spring of my freshman year, I was faced with something I had never faced before. I either had to choose my friends and spring break or basketball. I loved basketball, but at the same time, I realized that freshman year was the year to make a lot of friends. All I had heard in the past month was my friends talking about Spring Break. I knew that basketball would take place every single weekend until August 1st. To this day I remember telling my parents that I was questioning playing summer basketball due to having more free time. Throughout the three week break in between Rockhurst basketball and Mokan tryouts, my morale was tested. I understood that basketball could teach me lessons I needed later in life, and that hanging out with friends

It is my Senior year, and I have accomplished a few great things so far. I have been in Honors math courses since Freshman year; I took an AP course and I got a three on the exam, which will be enough to earn college credits at some colleges I am looking at. I also got invited to National Honor Society last year, and I am in it this year as well. I have a lot of things I want to accomplish before the end of my last year at Old Orchard Beach High School and hopefully during this quarter.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,” a famous quote stated by Mahatma Gandhi. At the beginning of the school year, I told myself that I wanted to become more active and involved at Benedictine University. I participated in a few events during my freshman year and because I found enjoyment in those activities, I wanted to do more throughout my sophomore year.

How much luck does one need to get drafted by their favorite team right after college? A lot of people say that all it takes is hard work and dedication but I am going to do a little more. Its not my dream to become pro, its a goal because not all dreams become true. If my goal fails, I would like to be in sports medicine.

‘Who am I?’, ‘What do I want to do in my life’ are questions asked to me many times throughout my life- by my parents, my teachers and my friends. Every time they ask this kind of questions, I always give them, the exact same response or something along the lines of- ‘I don’t know’. One thing I realized after losing 2 of my best friends is that I am someone that needs companionships and