My uniqueness! - Oriana Ricci by Oriana

My uniqueness! - Oriana Ricci by Oriana - May 2022 Scholarship Essay

By good luck, I have been blessed and fortunate enough in life not to have encountered any adversities. For this I am incredibly grateful. Thinking over the possible adversities for this essay, the closest example I thought of would be my diagnosis of attention deficit disorder (ADD) - which has been present throughout my life since around the age of eight. In my case, ADD has been the cause of issues in communication, difficulty achieving academic goals, and time management.

Transmitting and understanding thoughts, emotions, and the environment around me has been challenging throughout my life. When mentioning the environment, I refer to the content in books, unique perspectives people have (let it be professors, classmates, etc.), deeper analogies in movies, and other factors. Especially when it came time to perform on tests, as I tend to get more nervous than usual and lose all focus.

Achieving academic goals has also disrupted the process of learning, giving me a challenging time when studying. During my high school, undergraduate, and graduate studies I have had the opportunity to utilize tools to help me succeed. These tools include extra time on tests and quizzes, reading and re-reading over material, tutoring sessions, medication, and the appropriate healthy diet.

The essence of time and chronological order of events has seemed to always slip right through my fingers. When it came to organizing a specific timeframe for certain activities, I used to book one event over another as well as over schedule my agenda. This practice led to tardiness in due dates, events, and even classes. Not to mention the negative image I mistakenly portrayed to others about myself.

Through the skills of resilience, perseverance, and discipline I have become an exemplary student, leader, and volunteer. Re-working mathematical, financial, and accounting problems to properly understand the theory behind, waking up early on top of getting enough sleep, and reviewing incorrect responses all helped in overcoming my uniqueness. From an early age, I would always motivate myself with this simple yet powerful statement: “NEVER GIVE UP!”