De La Cruz, Damariz

ERWC

Block 6

13 November 2018

Personal Statement

The door slams. Non-stop yelling begins; “Not again,” I think to myself. The only thing

on my mind is wanting to make it stop. I rush to the room where my mom and brother are at,

“Can you please stop arguing?” I say. “This isn’t your problem; stay out of it!” my mom yells. I

step out of the room feeling hurt, realizing once again that the promise we made of being a

united family even if my dad wasn’t there, had been broken once more. The yelling finally stops

and then my mom enters my room. Upset at my brother, she begins yelling at me “ Why didn’t

you…?” The endless list begins. Once she’s left the room I begin to cry quietly. I was tired, tired

of the screaming, and tired of feeling like no matter what I did, it would never be good enough.

Everyone faces different challenges in life. Those challenges can either be family problems or

personal problems. Due to all the family problems I was facing, I began to struggle academically.

Most of the time i felt like giving up. I thought there was no point in trying if either way what I

did, would never be good enough. Later, I realized I was wrong for giving up. Making mistakes

isn’t wrong, but it is wrong to give up. Everyone will face a moment in life in which they are less

than perfect. It is okay as long as you keep trying and learn from your mistakes.

During my sophomore and junior years, I struggled a lot. In the beginning of sophomore

year I went through a phase in which I didn’t want to try. I felt like all my effort was always

unappreciated. No matter what I did, I would never please anyone nor would I reach my full

potential. Due to this, I stopped trying. I stopped trying in school, I avoided friends, and I even
avoided being at home. I ended up failing most of my classes. I had to take summer school to try

to make them up. I remember teachers and my mom asking what was wrong, but not even I

knew. Junior year came and the cycle repeated itself. Time passed and I just kept getting worse.

Toward the end of my junior year, I realized I had made a huge mistake. I tried

everything possible to improve my grades. I decided to talk to my teachers and turned in many

missing assignments I had. With the help of friends, family, and teachers, I started improving.

Getting back up was a difficult journey but I continued persevering. At the end of the year my

grades were better. I had a great progress and didn’t fail any class.

After all my hard work, I knew I should have never let myself drop that much. I realized I

was wrong for giving up, but I wasn’t going to let that mistake hold me back. I learned that as

long as I stayed determined, I was strong enough to persevere. Now, I know that no matter what

situation is occurring, I can’t give up. From now on, I will do my best for my own good. Not just

to make others happy, but because I want to succeed. We can’t avoid mistakes, but we can fix

them and learn from them.

Overall, don’t let yourself feel bad for making mistakes. Every mistake you overcome

and learn from will only make you stronger. Mistakes will teach you many lessons in life. Some

of these lessons you won’t be able to learn anywhere else. Although it may be challenging at

first, you can overcome them. Everyone is strong enough to get back up, when you stay

determined, optimistic, and confident.