My Recovery by Kristopher

My Recovery by Kristopher - January 2026 Scholarship Essay

I am a hardworking student looking to pursue a goal in making a name for myself. Since I was young, I have had multiple dreams and career desires, from wanting to be a content creator, to building a video game company. There's a lot I want to do, and I am willing to work hard for it. Even as I'm writing this, I'm pushing myself towards content creation because I've always wanted it. What keeps my dreams and future alive is my determination. I am determined to make it past whatever obstacles or hardships are in my way.
One of the hardest obstacles I faced in life was trying to be myself. When I got into high school, I thought what other people thought about me mattered the most. I was often viewed as the weird or strange one, and thought that I needed to be someone popular. I thought if I hung out with the right people, did the same things, and had the same preferences, I would be a popular person. Instead I found myself not knowing what I really wanted in my life. I decided to seclude myself from my friends to give it thought. After a few months, I let some people back into my life, and made new friends shortly after. This experience of finding myself taught me what friendship and love was. It showed me who I should trust and stand by. This experience helped me realize what my dream was and who my true friends and family are.
One of these new friends is now one of the people closest to me, and he was the one who taught me to do things for myself. I've been doing content creation for a little over a year, and his words he told me are part of the reason I keep going. I told him once that without doing something trending you get nowhere in the space. I don't like the majority of trends because they seem lazy and feel like they don't have worth when you copy them. He told me "If I put work into doing what I like, eventually it all pays off.". His words helped me push myself to keep doing what I wanted, and not try to appease people for the views. If it wasn't for him I would've quit content creation a while ago.
Recently I’ve had trouble with starting to make music because I’ve been scared of the negative result. I still need to learn how to value not just myself, but what I create to a standard that no one else can change with their opinion.