Decisions Determine Destiny by Lincoln

Decisions Determine Destiny by Lincoln - December 2022 Scholarship Essay

Good or bad, everyone is heavily influenced by their high school experiences. This is certainly true for me, especially my Senior year. I have matured, narrowed down my goals, and created a path that I believe and hope will become a successful future.

At the beginning of 2022 (the end of my Junior year), I was given advice by multiple people: my parents, teachers, coaches, guidance counselors and even close friends. Everyone was telling me what they think I should do to become successful and what career I should choose. I appreciated their advice and reflected on their counsel, but oftentimes, one piece of advice would contradict another. However my father and I had a really good discussion about my future and he helped me realize something extremely important. Regardless of my outside influences, every decision I make from this point on is mine and mine only.

My whole life I have been told what to do. I have been told when to get up, what classes to take, what to eat, where to go, etc. However I now realize that as an adult, my success and/or failures in life are ultimately up to me. I truly appreciate everyone’s counsel and I sincerely hope that everyone close to me will continue to lead me in the right direction, but I also hope that they understand that my goals may not exactly line up with theirs.

I am willing to take full responsibility for my actions and will most definitely accept whatever successes or failures befall upon me. One of the greatest and somewhat scariest lessons that any high school student can learn is that every one of us controls our own destiny and I am enthusiastically excited about mine.