The process of applying to college was surprisingly very time consuming and made me come to

realization. After reviewing my grades, writing essays, and listing all the extracurricular activities
I took part in, I realized that I could’ve done so much more throughout High School and I can
only blame myself for missing out on the opportunities that laid right in front me. I made the
wrong friends, spent time hanging out with people who didn’t have my best interest, and tried to
take the easiest routes into getting things done. The hardest pill I had to swallow was that I
wasn’t going to get accepted into the schools that I had always dreamed about, Howard
University & UCLA. My GPA was not good enough, I avoided taking AP classes because I
heard about how stressful they were, and I could’ve at least played football to give me a chance
at getting an athletic scholarship at Division 1 University. Instead I let people get into my head
and I followed the crowd. By far one of the biggest regrets of my life. However, I won’t let the
past affect my future. I will just keep working and make the best out of what I have now. And I
must accept the fact that the life I am living right now is a result of past manifestations. Because
of this, I’ve made an effort to improve everyday and do something that challenges me. Getting
accepted into colleges was a good thing, but I don’t believe in settling for less. I got accepted
into colleges that I don’t really view as top tier. I was accepted into a couple of CSU’s and 8
HBCUs, but I had no interest in attending those schools. And of course, the schools I viewed as
prestigious rejected me. It was heartbreaking and disappointing, but I have no choice but to
move forward with everything, after all these were my grades. If I wanted to get into a great
school, I should’ve made an effort to get great grades. I knew my parents weren’t happy with
this either, and it gets even worse knowing that your younger sister has better grades than you,
and they have more faith in her in her potential than they have in me. On the same day that I
received a rejection email from a certain school, I heard a quote from Steve Harvey that will
always stick with me. “If you’re going through hell, keep going. Why would you stop in hell”. To
me, that meant that just because I’ve been rejected, doesn’t mean that I have to sit down and
feel sorry for myself. I must move on. It’s almost the same when you get rejected by a beautiful
girl, you just move on. There will be plenty of opportunities along the road. I’m only 17 years old,
and these are the beginning chapters of my life. I may not have accepted into the best schools,
but at least I’ve been into not one, but many Universities. I can truly say that High School was
learning experience in and out of the classroom, and I still have more to learn.