In the current essay, I consider how my past experiences have helped me build courage and resilience to persist in academic and life challenges. I will focus on my challenge – living with type 1 diabetes (a chronic disease) for five years, and how this struggle has impacted my achievements, motivation, and behavior. Overall, I believe that the negative experience turned out to be an event that made me more energetic, passionate, and goal-orientated.
To begin with, I have been living with type 1 diabetes for five years. The disease requires lifelong daily management that includes insulin administration with meals and food, and finger sticks to check blood sugar. Sometimes when my blood sugars are out of range, it seriously affects my ability to be involved in everyday activities and learning processes. In my view, this challenge has drastically influenced my personality. First of all, I became highly disciplined and strict because I have to organize my life daily (insulin injections). Secondly, I appreciate all the opportunities that I have, and thus I am goal-orientated and passionate about learning and other activities. These qualities helped me in achieving my academic goals and staying involved in extra curriculum tasks. I am in the top 10% of school rank, which is the 99th percentile of the country on the PSAT/NMSQT. Moreover, I received the Math, Science, and Engineering Studies High School Diploma. Additionally, I am a part of the National Honors Society and an active member of the marching and symphonic band with Carnegie Hall solo performance for four years.
In conclusion, I am persuaded that my struggle against diabetes has dramatically influenced my personality, academic, and extracurricular activities. I became highly disciplined, strict to myself, confident, goal-orientated, and passionate. These qualities played an essential role in my brilliant academic results and high involvement in different interest clubs. Today I am sure that regardless of the difficulties I am going through every day, I learn new lessons that I use to control my motivation and behavior.