TAMIU GEAR UP IV 2015 Essay Contest

My Journey Towards My Lifetime Goals My main lifetime goals include being generally successful, loving what I do, remaining first in my class in order to gain the greatest opportunities I can, being comfortable with public speaking, and being a leader in activities I am involved in. Considering these goals I have set for myself, there are many things I do and plan to do in order to accomplish them later in life. Some of these are planned, while others happen by chance, or by the instruction or insistence of others. At the time of the occurrences I will now address, I didn't realize they would benefit me so greatly in the future. The dictionary definition of success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. However, everyone's definition of success varies based on their perspective in life. To most people, success is having a lot of money, a huge house, and nice cars. Yeah, it's great to have all this money to your name, but are you doing what you love to get there? To me, success is as simple as getting up each day, loving what you do for a living, and feeling as if you've never worked a day in your life because you enjoy your career so much. I am currently ranked first in my class. My goal for the end of my senior year is to remain first and graduate valedictorian. I know that doing so will expose me to great opportunities, such as scholarships, admission to a college or university of my choice, and the honor of leading the class of 2017. What pushes me even more is the fact that my two older sisters both graduated valedictorian of their classes. I would love to follow in their footsteps, especially seeing them doing so well in their educational endeavors. All my sisters and I have ever known is that it is a given to do our best in all that we do, to know our potential, to never settle, and to never take the easy way out. The way we were raised is reflected through our successes and will continue to be the path to our futures. My family is also extremely involved with the Catholic Church. My mother is in charge of choosing youth lectors to read the scripture at Sunday mass. Both of my older sisters started reading at a very young age. My mother asked me to start reading in 2006 at the age of seven. I simply refused. I was extremely nervous to get in front of so many people to speak the word of God. What if I messed up? What if I started stuttering? What if I choked? I kept telling her no, but she has never taken no for an answer. I was going to be a lector whether I liked it or not. So, okay, I did it. I spoke in front of my entire church. And when mass was over, I asked my mom, "When can I read again?" I have been a lector ever since, for 9 years now. So, from this first experience, I realized sometimes when I don't want to do something, I should try it anyway because I may end up actually enjoying it. Being able to go up on the altar, up to the podium, to speak God's word is such an honor and a blessing. Last summer, at the GEAR UP/NCCEP National Conference in Washington, D.C., I was given the honor of being chosen to speak to the attendees about my experiences there and with GEAR UP IV. I was extremely excited and honored to be chosen, but I was also a bit apprehensive to have to speak in front of so many people. I was used to speaking at church in front of a couple hundred people at most, as opposed to closer to a thousand. I realize now that being a lector at my church helped me to speak at last year's conference. Being a youth lector and speaking at the conference have in turn helped me to speak publicly. In any given career field, I will have to speak in front of large groups of people, and previous experience will make it much easier to do so. I am so glad I have these great experiences under my belt. Along with gaining the ability to speak publicly, I am also benefitted in that I am gaining a sense of leadership from these experiences.