My Past self by Vaden

My Past self by Vaden - July 2025 Scholarship Essay

Far back in the past I was a student who always did their homework the minute it was assigned and actually enjoyed subjects like math which ended up being my strongest subject. I really enjoyed things like sports and video games, or just hanging out with friends. When the covid pandemic happened it shook my world. I didn't realize it at the time, but I ended up really struggling because of it. Right after the covid pandemic I lost a lot of family, people who I saw frequently and then all the sudden they were gone. I pushed these feelings away and because of this I dealt with them more so my junior year of high school. I got quieter and stopped seeing my friends as much , and even quit playing football. I said I was "focusing" on my school work getting ready for college applications. This wasn't the case as my worst grades in high school came from my junior year. I did recover from this slump that happened and have hit what I would think as one of the higher points in my life. So what I would like to tell my past self is, just keep on moving forward and everything will end up working out.
I never got support for what I went through in my junior year of high school but looking back on it makes me think that I should've looked for help in my immediate family and friends. One thing I have learned in the last year is that relying on your family and friends is not a weak thing to do but actually something strong to do. It helps create a stronger relationship with those around you and it helps your own mental health. It was through learning that I have been able to reach where I am today. I relearned how to do my schoolwork on time and in an efficient way. I would hope that my younger self would take this advice and use it to its full extent just to improve that hard year for myself.
My past self would be able to use this to improve upon aspects that I feel like I might've failed in or not done my best. I believe this is important but I also think that what happened is exactly how it should've gone and I wouldn't trade anything for the way my life has gone. It's because of what has happened that I am who I am so I would give that advice to my past self, but hopefully it wouldn't change anything.