“Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person. “Albert Einstein. I was very shy when I was a child up until my teenage years. I was so shy that I never really spoke to anyone. This inhibited me to do the things I wanted to. I never participated in school. I thought school was a waste of time. I never realized how important it is. I was never a bad student. I always got good grades. I just didn’t realize how important it was. Everyone should treat school as if it is their career. Now, I am a very strong and independent person. It is important to me to be strong and independent because that will help me overcome any obstacles life throws at me. I have learned that you need to be knocked down and learn to get back up again to be truly strong and independent.

One year ago my family from another state came to live with me. They weren’t the best people in the world, but they were still family. They walked all over me, my home, and my parents. They took advantage of us. Now, I always used to let people do that, but this time it was different. They did it to an extent that I couldn’t handle it anymore. They did nothing to help with paying or even cleaning the house. One day they pushed me too far. They literally trashed my home. It looked like a tornado went through it. I instantly got angry because it was my house. I got so hot. I could feel the blood rushing to my head. I was boiling. I decided not to let it bother me. They were family and I should ask them to help me clean. They refused. My cousin said, “This isn’t our mess, this is your mess.” I tried to show her that it was and they should help me. They moved out just because they thought I betrayed them. When really, they betrayed me. I let them walk all over me and all I asked for was some help. This helped me learn how to become a better person through this whole situation. I am now very strong willed. I know what it’s like to be pushed around. Now I can be stronger than I have ever been. I know how much strength I have and I know how to put it to good use. I have more strength and will to be a better student. I have more strength to work toward my career choice.

My best friend has had a great influence on me. She knew I wasn’t very independent. I thought I needed people for everything. I needed people to go with me. For people to “hold my hand”. She tested how dependent I was of people. She would ask me to go do things and I would ask her to come with me because I hated going places alone. She told me that I needed to overcome this because I’m not always going have someone there to help me. So one day she made me go home alone. She lives in downtown Chicago. I have to take two buses and two trains to get home. She said, “You don’t need me to go with you, your old enough to get home by yourself.” I went home alone and I realized that I could do anything I wanted to. It took me awhile to get used to it. Sometimes I feel like I still need people, but in the end I do things all by myself. In college there is a lot of independent learning and now I can do that. I’m not afraid to do something wrong because I know it will help me in the end. I can learn from my mistakes. If I go to college with a very large campus I can learn how to get to my classes without stressing because I’m independent.

Being strong and independent is so important to me. It will help me excel in life. If I have problems with life I can fight through it and become even stronger than I am now. It excites me to learn new ways to do things. Like how to be stronger and more independent. I have learned to be a better person. To always help others because I know how to get through situations because of what I have been through. I’m different from everyone else because people are scared to go to college and I’m excited. They have trouble learning by themselves and I find it enjoyable. I am more strong and independent than most of my peers.