Exclamation Scholarship Essay

The Question:

“Each day that passes brings new opportunities for change. If you only had one day to make a difference in the world, what would you do or say and how would you accomplish it?”


My response: (without knowing the word count needed)

If I had one day to make a difference in the world, I would focus on helping others reach for their dreams; especially teenagers and younger children. As I was “growing up”, many people, friends and adults alike, would look at me oddly if I was doing something that was out of the ordinary. Because of this, I stopped doing some things that I really wanted to try or stopped caring about other things that I was passionate about. The result was my confidence in myself diminished. If I had had even one or two friends that had supported me through these times, my life would have probably turned out differently. I want to be one of those people to give teenagers the confidence to reach for their dreams. I would show them that by trying new things, even if others say that you are “strange”, you are giving yourself the opportunity to pursue any goal that you set your mind upon. I would also tell them to search out a mentor that would help them to proceed upon a path that would help them reach their dreams. In this way they would have the opportunity to try new things, build their self-esteem and become the person that they always wanted to be.
(213 words)

My response: (100 word count limit)

I would focus on helping others reach for their dreams; especially teenagers and younger children by supporting them. If I had had even one or two friends that had supported me through trying times in my life, things would probably have turned out differently. I would show them that by trying new things, even if others say that you are “strange”, you are giving yourself the opportunity to pursue any goal that you set your mind upon. By listening to the concerns of others, self-esteem grows, and dreams become a reality.
(91 words)