Driven by Excellence by Brianna

Driven by Excellence by Brianna - August 2025 Scholarship Essay

I continuously envision the successful position I desire to be in life and that fantasy fuels my passion for excellence. As I reflect on what drives that vision, I realize that it is the desire to challenge myself and hunger to be recognized as a leader, known for her labor. This year, I aspire to excel in my academics, professional goals, and growth.

Early on, I knew to choose Accounting because it challenged me to showcase my intelligence with numbers and problem-solving skills. Once I committed to my major, I saw how my guiding values fell into place and aligned with my goals as an accountant: applying logical and principled thinking to every situation.

After earning a 4.0 in Spring 2025, I have opted to complete 18 credits in Fall 2025, which will be my second consecutive high-intensity semester. What drives me to continuously reach for such outstanding academic excellence is a combination of factors, first being that I am certain that I want to become a CPA. Knowing that I will be working towards the 150-credit requirement, I began my journey early. I entered college with 27 college credits that I had been accumulating since the age of 16. I am not shying away from any challenge to expedite and enhance my educational journey, illustrating the reason I persist with 18-credit course loads.

In the upcoming academic year, I want to absorb the information I learn in classes and apply beyond the classroom. A major goal I set for myself was to use the knowledge I gained over the past and current year to assist in strengthening my scholarly approach during specialized events like the Career Fair and Accounting club. These are incredible spaces meant for networking, presenting opportunities to create and demonstrate my professional worth. My hope is to form a beneficial connection that could potentially lead to internships and mentorships this year. In addition to taking advantage of the coordinated events, I want to be proactive with my resources at the Career Center by completing the important tasks. To make sure I am set in the eyes of a recruiter, I need to get a headshot and refine my resume. All efforts exercised would assist my goal towards growing professionally.

Balancing academic responsibilities and my trying to professionally evolve does not happen by chance. It requires the adaptable archetype to properly bring the vision to life. I currently rely on writing down my days on a physical calendar or using my Reminder app to create a to-do list, but I know as I take on more, I need to level up my time management skills. This is why I will be implementing a time-blocking strategy, designating my time to properly view all my day's activities, work, and meetings to attend. Having set time aside, I can accurately prioritize each task by level of importance and when it has to get done. Managing my time more strategically is how I plan to achieve my semester goals and build the momentum to working towards my long-term goals.

Beyond an academic environment, I recognize that these goals for this upcoming year translate into future-oriented aspirations as well. It builds the foundation of being able to set these goals and watch how I consistently lay the foundation down for something greater. Going in a positive direction, step by step, is empowering to my journey. However, it adds to the overall picture of what I aim to represent: the immense capabilities of women of color in business, demonstrating to others to challenge what others might deem impossible. I do not set aspirations just to say I have done something; I push myself to build upon the past goal and strive for more.