A Piece of Advice for my Younger Self by Rebecca

A Piece of Advice for my Younger Self by Rebecca - July 2025 Scholarship Essay

The one piece of advice I would give to my younger self would be to be careful with who you trust. If I had not trusted a certain person, I think my last 3 years of highschool may have been way more enjoyable. That one friendship worsened my existing PTSD, trust issues, and my overall life. The person who I thought was my best friend ended up turning my own family and friends against me, while almost costing me my membership in the National Honor Society. She lied about our entire friendship, and tried to sabotage my relationships with everybody I loved. In the end, I did have proof to show the truth, but some of my relationships were too far gone to try to salvage. While I do think it helped me develop my character, personality and beliefs, I don’t think that development was worth the emotional suffering I endured. If I could redo that one friendship, and not have been so trusting, I feel that I would have gone down a happier path. Not trusting the right people was not only detrimental to my social life, but also my academic life. I trusted classmates to return study materials, or to do their part of a shared assignment, both of which were usually not fulfilled. I struggled to study without my materials, and my grades were negatively impacted by unfinished group assignments. While all of those experiences taught me to be independent, it also taught me that not everybody has the intention to earn what they want.