Changing by Caleb

Changing by Caleb - July 2025 Scholarship Essay

“Work to achieve your goals.” That short, simple piece of advice could completely change the trajectory of my life. Everyone has dreams, goals, aspirations, things they want to do, but many times, they stay just as that. Dreams. Many people want things to happen, but they never do anything to make it happen. You have to work to achieve your goals.
I heard the quote before that “If nothing changes, nothing changes.” When you first hear it you may just think that it's some silly quote that does not really mean anything. Of course if nothing changes things will stay the same. The true meaning is deeper than that though. It challenges the mind and body to act on its ideas to make them happen. If you want to improve your physical wellbeing, you have to make steps to turn it into reality. Sitting at home, making excuses about not changing your diet and avoiding physical activity is just going to leave you in your same situation. Then when you look back in a couple of months and wonder why nothing changed, you’ll realize; it’s because nothing changed. Another quote is “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” If you don’t change your routine and your actions, your situation is not going to change.
I could apply this piece of advice to a few of my different situations. I would have to realize that the best time to start was yesterday. Stop putting off things because when you say you’ll do something tomorrow, tomorrow rarely comes. Going to the gym, applying for a job, reaching out to this person, and many more opportunities are being lost every single day. My past self would have to take this advice and understand that if I want my situation to be great, I would have to be the one to take the steps to change it. I don’t shy away from hard work and I know I can handle it because in high school I was in Beta Club, Mu Alpha Theta, FFA, did community service and was an active member in my church, voted as a team captain for the varsity football and baseball team, and various other achievements while maintaining a 4.93 gpa. Doing the work is the only way to change your situation, and I would reinforce that idea to my younger self.