Who I Am Today. by Adriana

Who I Am Today. by Adriana - January 2026 Scholarship Essay

It was rough when I was fifteen. My parents were always fighting, and the police even showed up pretty often. My older sister had just moved out, so my brother and I didn't have her to distract us from all the drama. The fighting got worse, especially after we lost our grandma. That was a really hard time for all of us, and it made things feel even scarier, particularly for my little brother.

I realized I had to step up and be strong for him, like my sister had been for us. I had to be the big sister he needed. It was a super depressing time, and I started trying to figure out how to deal with my own sadness. I wrote a lot in my journal because I felt like I couldn't talk to anyone about what was going on. I didn't have many friends, and nobody really understood what my family was going through. After Grandma died, our family kind of fell apart, and people stopped reaching out. It hurt me, I never understood why that happened, I missed my cousins, I missed my uncles, most importantly I missed my real dad.

So, I started praying that things would get better, and I even helped my little brother pray too. Praying became my new strength, and it's helped me so much throughout my life. Whenever something was wrong, I'd pray about it. If I saw someone else hurting like I had been, I'd pray for them and even show them how to pray when things got tough. Becoming a stronger person at such a young age has really helped me as I've gotten older and made my way through high school. Depression is still something I deal with, but I've learned how to manage it and be stronger, rather than giving into the easier, darker thoughts that sometimes crossed my mind. I'm definitely a stronger person now.

One of the most significant ways this inner strength has shaped my perspective is by fostering a deeper sense of empathy. Witnessing and experiencing such difficult times at a young age forced me to look beyond my own struggles and truly understand the pain others might be going through. This realization has made me more compassionate and understanding towards friends, family, and even strangers. It’s a constant reminder that everyone is fighting their own battles, and a little kindness and support can make a world of difference. It made me nicer to people, especially people I didn’t know. It made me stand up against bullying in school, It even made me get a new set of friends because my old group never understood that being nice to people was a big must for me. It made me who I am today, a better person.