I once heard that in order to be successful we have to work for it no matter how hard it seems. I even tattooed it on my leg in Arabic lettering, it says "Work for it, God is with you."
I am Katy Sosa and this is my story. I am the fourth of six children in my family. Growing in a Hispanic household, a lot is expected of me, including setting an example for my younger siblings and being great at everything I do.
When I began high school, I began a different chapter in my life. In high school teachers don't baby you anymore; they teach you how to communicate with others, how to be independent and work with a team, and how to come out of your comfort zones once in a while. I was always the quiet person in every classroom. I would never asked for help on anything because I was shy and afraid people would laugh at me or think I was dumb. Freshman and sophomore year were easy for me, but halfway through junior year I hit some bumps on the road which made me reflect on what I want for myself and how I would manage to do it.
In my first semester of junior year I barely passed a few classes because I had moved schools. I struggled so much in my US History AP class. My second semester was harder, because the STAAR test was coming up and school was only five months from ending. I expected myself to be better, but no, that didn't happen. I almost failed my US History class because in April I got sick because of a headache and the doctor said I couldn't go to school for ten days, I had to rest my body, and myself. When I missed school for one day I fell behind a lot; imagine missing school for ten days. It was a struggle because I hated the idea of failing. It produced so much fear in me.
I managed to get on track before the last week of school. I had never studied before in my life, but for my final exam I had to study a lot because it was the only class I was about to fail. I drank so much coffee those last days. It tasted so good because of all the stress I was carrying. I felt like a car ran over me back and forth, but I knew everything I was doing would help me alot. I passed my exam. I was so relieved and happy, and I realized that I struggled so much because I didn't ask questions nor understand things because I was very shy. I knew I had to change that because I didn't want to go through that ever again.
That summer I got involved in a program called GenesysWorks, which was the best decision I've ever made. GenesysWorks is an eight-week program program for students who want to develop skills in the corporate industry of their choice, including technical and professional training. If I did well, I could earn an internship for my senior year. I gave up my summer to this program, and it was totally worth it. I did my best, and I met new people, worked as a team in activities, and worked to develop the skills being taught. By the end of the training I was notified that I earned an internship. This is one of the proudest moments in my life. I came out of my comfort zone, developed skills, and had experience meeting new people with good hearts.
My senior year so far has been good to me. I am proud of all the things I have accomplished and the challenges I overcame. It is not easy to get out of your skin to achieve goals. I can say that in order to be successful you have to work for it; working for it made me value the most important things in life which is the time others gave me for me to be great.. Maybe you lose people in your journey, or things go a different path but I promise you, things will get better just don't give up. God takes away things to give you better things. When you feel afraid of doing something that is out of your comfort zone just know that there is always a rainbow after the storm.
My inspiration for this essay was myself. I took the time to reflect on how my life has changed as I continue to shape into the person I want to be. The younger me would be so proud of me because I am becoming that person I wanted to be as a little girl. One piece of advice; Never give up, even if things are not going as planned, keep going. You’ll get there, just don’t stop!