GHSA Essay - 3 Things I'm Proud of

This was written for my GHS application

** This was written for my Global Honors Scholar Program application **

           Throughout my life I have done numerous things of which I am very proud of.  However, there are three prominent activities that seem to dominate the majority of my pride; and, all three have happened on a continuous basis since the beginning of my high school career.  Even though I am not yet finished with these adventures, as I look back on my work in our school’s Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program, my performance in my classes and my quest for spiritual balance I see a path of success, achievement and maturity.

            Since my freshman year I have been a part of our school’s AFJROTC program.  As soon as I was introduced to the Corps, it’s Senior Leadership at that time and to the overall idea and goals of the Corps I knew I wanted to be a strong cadet for the Corps and gain as much knowledge, experience and life skills from the program as possible.  As a part of the Corps, and as a willing and devoted cadet, I served in a wide range of positions.  By the end of my sophomore year I had served as a Flight Sergeant, Flight Commander, Team Commander and Assistant Commander for four different teams, Personnel Officer, Academic Officer and I was promoted to serve as Senior Enlisted Advisor �" the highest leadership position available to third year cadets - for my junior year.  At the end of my junior year I went through a promotion board which evaluated my previous leadership, role in the corps as well as my performance in academics and other activities to be promoted to Corps Commander for my senior year; for which, I received the highest marks and thus promoted to Corps Commander.  In these positions I have learned a great deal regarding leadership, working with all ranges of people including adults and cadets, preparing and presenting briefings and speeches, organizing events such as a military ball and meetings, as well as the responsibility that comes with serving in those positions.  For my hard work I was honored to be the first cadet to receive Cadet of the Year twice, I have also been granted with recognition for: superior performance, academics, leadership, for being a top performer and an outstanding cadet.

            In addition, through Air Force JROTC I have done many different activities that have given me a grand span of experiences.  I have met various people through events such as drill competitions, military balls, meetings and through JROTC connections.  Through Flight Operations I have worked alongside and been a part of Civil Air Patrol and have flown a Cessna plane through the program.  I have competed at local, inter-branch, regional and state drill competitions; placing third through first in events I commanded as well as fourth overall in the state as a team.  With the Corps’s Venture Crew I have participated in scouting and I was awarded with three different medals from the program for having met requirements and for performance.  As Leadership I have attended more than a handful of Air Force Association Dinners with high ranking Air Force personnel and local Senior ROTC cadets from colleges including Virginia Tech, Virginia Military Institute as well as Mary Baldwin; also, I have presented and enjoyed luncheons with nursing home groups we have done color guard details for, our local Military Officers Association as well as others.  Plus, during the summers I had spent some time with other Air Force JROTC units to learn and gather ideas for our Corps and I also would spend the first week in August at Summer Leadership Camp �" a camp that imposed physical training, leadership, military structure, sporting activities and fundamental training to help grow our foundation for success in both the Corps and our future.  As can be seen, I am extremely proud of what I have done in our AFJROTC Corps at our high school; though of course, there are other activities that I am also proud of as well.

            Along with Air Force JROTC, I am very proud of my academic success throughout my years in high school.  I have taken the most advanced courses available to me including an Honors course, a dual-enrollment course through Patrick Henry Community College, and even the following Advanced Placement Courses: Language and Composition, United States History, Statistics and Chemistry.  Thus far I have taken two AP courses and have passed both; and, I plan to pass the latter two as well.  While taking these advanced courses I have managed to participate in over ten different clubs and activities excluding miscellaneous events oriented with community service and AFJROTC.  Now, what I’m proud of most about my high school academics, and working towards an Advanced Diploma, is the fact that I have maintained a consistent Grade Point Average of over 3.5 while taking advanced courses and managing the numerous activities that I have been a part of.  And not only that, but if my grades continue to incline at the rate they are currently at I will without doubt end up graduating not only with an Advanced Diploma, but I would also be granted with recognition as a Distinguished Honor Graduate for having a Grade Point Average above a 4.0.  Through my hard work and perseverance through challenging courses and long list of commitments and activities I am very proud of having maintained such a high Grade Point Average and good grades that are consistently rising.

            Beyond school and Air Force JROTC, I have strived to find a spiritual balance since I was a freshman.  I researched different religious faiths from Buddhism to Catholicism to Deism.  During my freshman and sophomore year I would vacillate mainly between Taoism, Deism and Agnosticism.  For that time, I still reflect and think that it was a very mature decision for me since I was unaware of what I was truly searching for and by continuing to study and attempt to find balance whether through meditating my Chi or by relaxing my mind by detaching from the secular world I was able to learn a great deal about myself while maturing in my global perspective.  However, during my junior year I came to know Christ and very strongly and suddenly devoted myself to living a Christian life.  While I had been Saved, I had not yet been Baptized.  This was because I knew that I needed to study, pray and find myself with God before I could take that leap of Faith.  After approximately eight months, I knew I was ready to be Baptized in the name of the Lord.  While a majority of students my age may have been oriented with their life’s Faith since childhood or may have or have not had the same experience I am extremely proud of this decision I made.  I am so proud because I had experienced what other Faith’s were like and how their lifestyle was oriented, I studied them as well as the Faith I had decided to take upon and I ensured that I was fully prepared to take on that next step.  Through this, I feel that I made a very mature decision that had a high possibility of not having been made so well if it wasn’t for my drive to understand and to find it myself without following a path originally set for me.  For that, I am proud of having made a decision on my spiritual being and its balance with the Holy Trinity.

            During my past four years in high school I have had three major experiences and happenings of which I am tremendously proud of.  In our school’s Air Force JROTC program I excelled and rose to the Corps’s highest position and gained many life skills and experiences from being such a big part of the program.  While being a member of many clubs and activities and taking the most challenging courses available to me I managed to maintain a high Grade Point Average that is currently on a consistent incline.  And in addition, I made a very huge and monumental decision that transformed the way I live my life with a mindset based off of a very educated perspective and understanding of what I was committing to.  These three things are my most proud recollections; though I am sure, that in my future there will be others that will arise that will far surpass what I am proud of now.