Dear Diary, The Incoming Changes of an Incoming Freshman by Naabiah

Dear Diary, The Incoming Changes of an Incoming Freshman by Naabiah - August 2025 Scholarship Essay

*Journal Entry from October 7th, 2024 -Senior Year-
What makes me different from anyone else? What makes me so fundamentally different from Einstein or Galileo Galileo or Plato or any genius that’s ever lived? I wanna learn everything! Why am I not good at math? I haven’t practiced of course! There are literally endless resources for me to learn anything…*

My earliest journal entry probably goes back to 2009, where my mom encouraged me at 3 years old to dictate whatever funny things were happening in preschool so she could transcribe and keep the blue lined treasures for me to reread at an older age. Over the course of 10+ years and thousands of pages, I’ve documented each mishap, funny moment, weird dream, failure and success into my journals. Among many of my diary pages, I’d written about how challenging I found my math and science classes.

Now as a reader – I humbly ask you to take my introductory journal entry into consideration.

Assuming you know your weaknesses and strengths, what really sets you apart from a skilled professional in your worst subject? And is it even possible that any subject- from AP Literature to Math 55 can be your worst subject, or is it simply a subject you need more time in to improve your degree of proficiency? I knew from middle school STEM classes I needed more practice to get to match the abilities of my classmates, something I didn’t find easily accessible since my family couldn’t afford tutoring. I became not just discouraged from STEM, but I was wholeheartedly convinced I was too "right-brained”- too much into the humanities, excelling in English and History, to be “left-brained”, analytical, and good at math or Chemistry like the mentioned genius’ names. And after junior year Chemistry, I almost gave up entirely- I had gotten an 89, a personal crime in the eyes of a straight A student!

The incredible thing about journaling, is that it's boundless- its blank pages open the space for analysis, creativity, and everything in between. As I entered senior year I recorded the stress of taking the big cosmetology test. I knew the practical aspect (hair styling, barbering, nails, etc.,) was not something I saw myself doing in the long term, but I was always interested in the chemistry of hair and nail products. It was an early interest I let die, instead, surrendering into the idea that I wasn’t sciency-smart enough to excel in that niche. But like all chemical and physical solutions, changes happen. I decided to infuse the knowledge gained from 4 years of cosmetology and discard that horrible notion that I was not enough to excel in science, and determined I would become a cosmetic chemist.

I know my areas of improvement- I know I’ll need help in math, physics, and Chemistry. I know my strong suits- the ability to be empathetic (thus my enjoyment of English and History). But my most important strength is my willingness to challenge myself; moving the bar higher with each goal attained so I can say, “No, I wasn’t good at this. But I knew I could be.” Even though Chemistry was my lowest grade, I am motivated to use my resources to help me turn things around. Each day, I have an opportunity to understand subjects I thought I never would, challenge myself and excel. I am motivated to disprove past versions of myself that believed I was not analytical enough to major in a STEM field. I’m an incoming college freshman who challenges herself by enrolling in online college Chemistry courses, something I never imagined would be the highlight of my day. I already have ideas and inventions and with the habit of journaling I don’t plan on abandoning anytime soon-- I plan to write all my progress, discoveries, failures and successes as I make a name for myself in the Chemistry field.