True Worth by Hannah
Hannah's entry into Varsity Tutor's October 2025 scholarship contest
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True Worth by Hannah - October 2025 Scholarship Essay
In reading the book, A Little Princess by F. H. Burnett, I learned many things about where true worth comes from. Particularly, how worth is defined by the content of your character and how you treat others, not the amount of money or possessions that you have. After being enrolled in an all-girls private school and having to go through the loss of her father, a military man who enlisted in World War I, Sara Crewe comes to learn that she has also lost all of the pleasures of her life as a rich girl. She is then made to be a servant in the school she once attended and is treated terribly by all of her former classmates and the headmistress. Throughout all of the trials and tribulations, Sara never loses the best parts of herself, her gratitude and compassion for others. She never failed to be grateful for what she had and the opportunities she was given, no matter how small they were or how insignificant they seemed to everyone else. Additionally, she remained compassionate toward others who were also struggling and put their needs above her own.
Since reading this novel as a young girl, I have worked to apply these admirable characteristics to my own life every day, especially when it comes to being grateful for the things that I have. I am often around people, whether through work or volunteer opportunities with foster kids who do not have things like loving parents or a safe home where they can rely on having meals every night. When working with these kids who have at some point in their lives lost everything, I try to remind myself of how Sara Crewe went through her entire life being grateful and showing others compassion and kindness.