|
Abbie Clark
College Prep English Autobiographical Essay September 11, 2015 A Blessing in Disguise “Realize now that when your heart breaks, you have to fight to make sure you’re still alive. Because you are. And that pain you feel? That’s life.The confusion and fear? That’s there to remind you, that somewhere out there is something better, and that something is worth fighting for.” Nathan Scott, a character on “One Tree Hill” put everything into perspective for me. I failed, and I was destroyed. Hearing this quote made me realize that failure is an option, and when it happens, I could learn to live with it or better yet, learn to love it. Even before I was in high school, I was told I would be a National FCCLA Officer one day. My adviser and my mentor had my agenda planned out for me since day one: chapter officer my freshman year, regional officer my sophomore year, state president my junior year, and my senior year would be the year I finally became a national officer. This plan was never really my choice. Ironically, I ran for my first FCCLA officer position before I had ever been to an FCCLA meeting. However, this entire scenario did not go as was stated: one of the best lessons I ever learned in high school is that plans rarely go according to plan. And this past summer the plan was for me to go to D.C. to become a national officer. The day I arrived in Washington D.C. to run for an office I had worked so hard to get was anticlimactic to say the least. There were no nerves and I had no fear. I simply went through the motions as they collected the national officer candidates and explained to us the election process that we had been studying for years. I was calm as I went to take the last FCCLA knowledge test I would ever have to take, and confident as I gave what I didn’t know at at the time to be my final FCCLA speech. It wasn’t until later that night I had learned that most likely only one of Missouri’s two candidates would go through to the top 20 national officer candidates. I knew in that moment that the election process was over for me. The other candidate was a good friend of mine who has been in FCCLA twice as long as I have and was mentored by a family that mostly consists of past national officers. I would have to finish out my week in D.C. and watch one of my closest friends continue on a journey that was supposed to be mine. I continued throughout my day, just waiting to receive the official letter that would tell me I was no longer a national officer candidate. I sat with the other candidates during the opening general session of the National Leadership Conference. While they were eager to go to the letter drop, I was slowly coming to terms with the fact that the one real goal I had in high school I would not be accomplishing. We moved in a pack, the other candidates rushing to see what their results would be. I received my letter and slowly walked toward my hotel room to open the letter that held my biggest failure. My support team was there excited to hear the news as I read the most infamous phrase ever uttered in the English language, “We regret to inform you.” I thought that sentence would be the toughest I would ever have to read; however, I look back now at the life I could have had and smile because I know that what happened was the best possible outcome for me. From the time I have left D.C. to this point, I have learned what it really means to be a national officer. A national officer is nothing more than the face of the organization. Their ideas and projects as a national officer mean little to those who work at headquarters full time. I would have most likely miss over 30 days of my senior year not to mention homecoming, prom, or the countless other student activities I strive to attend. Missing out the the opportunity to serve FCCLA on a national level has opened up the door to opportunities I never could have imagined if I would have had the time commitment that correlates with serving on the national executive committee. As a result of my failure, I will have the time to participate in other activities on a deeper level and truly enjoy the time I have left here at Chillicothe High School. “Sometimes it seems like you are the only one in the world who’s struggling, who’s frustrated, unsatisfied, barely getting by. But that feeling’s a lie. And if you just hold on, just find the courage to face it all for another day, someone or something will find you and make it all okay. Because we all need a little help sometimes – someone to help us hear the music in their world, to remind us that it won’t always be this way.” Lucas Scott of “One Tree Hill” helped me to realize that I wouldn’t always look at my greatest failure as a failure. The Scott brothers helped me put my life into perspective. I was not the only one struggling to come to terms with losing a national office position, but I might be the only one to see it as a blessing. My heart may have been broken, but I was able to see to a brighter day; my future is worth fighting for I may fail along the way, but it is my failures that make me who I am. |
|
|
