(This essay was written for acceptance to Samford University).
Sidewalks have become essential in our American lives. We use them to avoid walking on the busy roads; students use them to get from building to building at school; and employees use them to get to and from work. The paths that were once just a soft mixture of water and powder have withstood shoes, tires, and nature. Before the mixture was poured, there was a path dug in the ground to shape where the concrete walkway would lead. Without the track for the concrete to be poured, the sidewalk may not even take its traffic to the correct place. I would like to be able to compare my life to this process. As a baby, I was an empty mold. I had the powder and water poured into me and mixed, and through my childhood years I began solidifying. The part that I did not realize as a teenager was that I wasn’t going to be a ready-to-go sidewalk by the time I was eighteen. I thought that when I was an “adult” I would know every right decision. I thought I would be “dried” by then. Just when my concrete would begin to dry, someone would step in it, or a rainstorm would come through and ruin it. Because my pre-college story was not an easily laid sidewalk, I feel I am more prepared for my future – my Samford story.
In tenth grade, my concrete was flawed for the first time when I became a homeschool dropout. I obtained my driver’s license that year and had the ability to get my first “big girl job.” The agreement was for me to work a few days during the week and do my schoolwork on the other days. As the weeks went by, I began doing less and less schoolwork while telling my parents I was doing every bit of it. I didn’t realize that by doing this, I was pouring dirt in my wet concrete. By the end of the year, my parents found out, and I was in a lot of trouble. As a stubborn teenager, I thought it would just be better for me to continue working and forget school altogether. I never planned on going to college anyway, so it didn’t matter. That portion of sidewalk that was supposed to represent my future was irreparable, and I gave up on it.
Though the portion of my sidewalk labeled “future” was being forgotten about, I began a new path in a different direction. This second segment of the sidewalk was focused on working at a retail store that sold western wear. Though I made decent money at the job, I was not satisfied. Between being on my feet all day and being a target for the furious complaints of upset customers, I constantly felt drained. I also made friends there who were not good influences on me, making me feel that my choice to forget the future was perfectly okay. Overall, I was just going through the motions and trying to survive. This new portion of my sidewalk was becoming ruined, too, by the nasty thunderstorm of retail.
A third portion of my sidewalk began unintentionally when I decided to contact a gymnastics facility to ask if they needed coaches. I was unquestionably tired of working retail, knowing I would not have any kind of future in that career. Because I was a gymnast for twelve years, they welcomed me and my knowledge of the sport with open arms. I was not the dictionary definition of a “kid person,” and up until that day I had no thoughts of ever working as a gymnastics coach. When I became “Miss Grace,” the forgotten “future” part of my sidewalk was in the process of being repaired. The gym was my new cement, paving over my past mistake of giving up on my future. In the first year that I worked there, I decided to take my GED (also on a whim!) and I passed. I enrolled immediately at Wallace Community College, where I have spent my last two years. Being a college student has proven I love to learn, despite my high school experience, and moreover, has confirmed that I want to share the joys of learning with my own set of students one day. While going to school and coaching gymnastics, I discovered how much I love teaching children, especially teenagers. Multiple times, I pushed the idea of me becoming a teacher away. I insisted that wasn’t the job for me because I had never wanted to be a teacher before. The idea in my head was persistent and eventually won a spot in my heart. By coaching gymnastics, my new and improved sidewalk was paved and back on track to my future.
Undoubtedly, I could have saved myself a lot of work had I not ruined that first path. However, if my first round of cement had been perfect, I probably wouldn’t have discovered how much I enjoy teaching. Because I had to put extra work in to fix the mistakes I had made, I am more determined not to lose sight of my future again and finish my degree.
Comments