Take Advice From Those You Want to Become by Melanie

Take Advice From Those You Want to Become by Melanie - July 2025 Scholarship Essay

If I could offer one piece of advice to my past self, it would be this: Take advice from those you want to become. It seems simple, but honestly for much of my early life, I listened to whoever had the loudest voice and not necessarily the wisest one. Whether it was friends who didn’t share my goals or well-meaning people who gave advice rooted in fear rather than growth, I often accepted guidance without asking a crucial question: Is this person someone I want to become?

When you’re young, you don’t always realize that advice is a reflection of a person’s own experiences, perspectives, and values. I used to think that any advice from a friend of mine must be valuable. But not everyone’s path aligns with mine, and not everyone is aiming for the same type of success or fulfillment. Looking back, I would tell myself to be more intentional about whose words I absorb and whose opinions I allow to shape me.

In freshman year, I remember first joining my collegiate gymnastics team and thinking that my best friends would be in the same class as me. But as the year went on, they dragged me to more parties and valued their education less and less. I started to realize that I needed to stop taking advice from them and stop trying to emulate their lifestyle because I was becoming a person I didn’t want to be. And while I know that their advice was never ill-intended, they didn’t realize that it was taking me down a path where I had to slowly push aside my morals and values to fit into their friendship. Finally, half-way into sophomore year, I learned to seek out friends and mentors who actually lived the kind of life I wanted. Their advice came from a place of understanding and a similar mindset which was so refreshing. That shift in who I listened to completely changed the way I approached decisions, from athletic choices to internships to lifestyle choices.

To my younger self, I would say: you don’t need to impress and be best friends with everyone. Find people who inspire you, who challenge you, and who are already living parts of the life you hope to create. Taking advice from those you want to be like isn’t just about choosing better mentors; it’s about choosing your future. And it’s about making sure the people you surround yourself with don’t drown out your own goals. To this day, I am still good friends with my freshman year teammates, but I have learned to value the time and advice from my other friends who share my goals to make sure I am becoming the best person I can be.