Dear me, by Doaa

Dear me, by Doaa - July 2025 Scholarship Essay

If I could go back and give one piece of advice to my past self, it would be this: You are not behind. You are just building quietly.

For so long, I believed I was behind everyone else. I didn’t have tutors or college counselors. I didn’t grow up with people who could explain the system or open doors for me. Instead, I was helping my parents open bank accounts, making doctor's appointments in a language they didn’t understand, and figuring out FAFSA forms before I even applied to college. I remember scrolling through social media, comparing my life to classmates who seemed so far ahead—those who didn’t have to work or translate or explain. I often felt like I wasn’t enough.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that the very things I thought were holding me back were shaping me into someone resilient, resourceful, and deeply aware of others. While I wasn’t building the “perfect” resume in the way I thought I should, I was building something stronger: character. I was learning to advocate for my family, manage responsibilities beyond my years, and navigate spaces that were never built with people like me in mind. I wasn’t behind, I was learning in a different way.

I would tell my past self that success doesn’t have one timeline, and that it’s okay to move differently. It’s okay if your journey looks less polished. The pressure to constantly be doing more, faster, better, can make it hard to notice the quiet growth happening behind the scenes. But it’s in that quiet growth, in the small, everyday acts of responsibility and persistence, that you build the foundation for everything else.

I would also remind myself to be kinder. I spent too much time criticizing myself for struggling with math or not being naturally gifted at something. I wish I had known that struggling is not a sign of weakness, it’s proof that you’re learning. And that no one gets to define “smart” or “capable” for you. You are allowed to take up space, ask for help, and grow at your own pace.

This advice is especially important to me now, as I enter college and prepare for a future in medicine. There are still moments when I question whether I belong. But then I remember the girl who handled legal documents at 13, who translated for her entire family, who navigated shadowing programs, work, and school, not because it was easy, but because she wanted more for her future and her community.

So to my past self, I’d say: Keep going. Your story is not a detour, it is the path. You’re not behind. You’re building quietly, and when it’s time, the world will see what you’ve been building all along.