June 22, 2005

Eyes hurt

To prepare my persuasive essay properly, I need to provide at least one opposing view to my topic, Home Schooling is better. You would not believe just how hard it is to find reliable sources, online, quoting their opposition. I have plenty of blogs, and biased news articles quoting from the reliable source, but to use the biased source is not what I am looking for. I want the actual organization to be able to quote directly from their materials. As the title of my blog suggests, my eyes hurt now LOL.
In the meantime, I thought you all might enjoy reading my first ever college essay (warning, this was a 2 1/2 page report, and I scored perfectly):

Goals in life and education have always been clear for me since I was young. I don’t believe that any of my goals are out of reach, using the proper tools that are at my disposal. I want to be as knowledgeable as I can be about history, as that is my first love. I also want to become a prosecutor, to help society as a whole, and to help individuals.

I have been an avid reader from the time I could read, and have loved history in particular. Because of that, I wanted to be a history teacher. Sharing my passion with others made sense to me. As I grew older I also discovered a passion for the law, and decided then that I wanted to be a prosecutor someday. Not only would my love of history be applicable, but I would also be helping society. I decided then to be a history major, and minor in pre-law to make that happen.

My education and desired career go hand in hand. I will not be able to become a prosecutor without a specific degree. To get the degree, I need to start classes. Motivation for starting classes is for me a recent change. While I have always wanted to attend college, prior to registration, my primary focus had been on my military career. Recent events changed how I had planned life, and there fore required a change in plans.

While what I have done in the military and what I desire to do in the future have nothing to do with each other, my military life has prepared me in ways that I don’t feel I would have learned had I gone straight to college from high school. The military has taught me how to prepare thoroughly and to plan ahead for all eventualities. This will help me both in schoolwork and in my career later on.

Weaknesses are a hard thing to admit to, but a person needs to evaluate just what those weaknesses are to be successful people. Starting out in classes is a very new experience for me and my fears are a weakness. I am afraid that I will not be able to keep up with both my work and studies, and that I will be overwhelmed.

My fears were the reason I chose to start small, and focus on getting an associate of arts (AA) degree first. Planning for success, I wanted to start my stepping stones small, and work my way up. After I earn my AA, my next stone will be a Bachelor of Arts, possibly through American Military University, or elsewhere. Then it is on to law school, though just where, I don’t know yet.

But I count among my strengths the ability to face up to my fears, and focus on my goals, and where conquering my fears can lead me. I love to learn, and it is this love for learning that keeps me pushing forward in my education.

I consider myself to be very fortunate in having the full support of my entire family. They have always pushed me to start classes, and to reach for my full potential. No matter what I am learning, I know that they will be there for me to lean on as support when I need it.

Living in the barracks on post as I do presented some problems when it came to establishing a specific area that was solely for studying. However, I came to a compromise, and have my time set aside for having the television on, and doing what I like. Then I keep a schedule for times when I need to sit down, and complete my assignments for the week.

College is a challenge to be overcome. I enjoy new challenges, although they may scare me, and I enjoy the chance to prove myself in this new challenge.

1 comment:

dawn said...

Homeschooling is awesome :) I was homeschooled until college and am now teaching freshman composition while I get my MA. Your experience and maturity will help you out, and your writing looks great!