Royals 6

The meaning of perseverance is best described by the quote by Walter Elliot, “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.” Throughout my life, my mind has felt as though this was not correct. I have been in Boy Scouts since I was 5 and as I kept moving forward the one person who was always with me along the path was my grandfather. When I entered my boy scout troop, there were multiple instances where I was not treated fairly or bullied multiple times and my grandfather was the one that gave me the grace and showed me how to stick up for myself. When I moved into my new troop, I was on a great path. I kept working towards obtaining my eagle scout with his strength for me to power through as it will be worth it in the end. In October of 2020, my grandfather was sent to rehab where I would later know that is where he would spend the rest of his life due to his situation. That took a burden on me hard. On September 3rd of 2022, I woke up to learn that my mom had rushed to his rehab facility when she got a call to learn that he was taking his last breaths but by the time she got there, he had already passed. With losing him, it was hard for me to keep powering through on my trail to eagle. I told myself that I wasn’t going to finish my path because I didn’t think I could. This was one of the hardest trials I have ever had to endure, but just like any other challenging experience, I was able to grow and achieve my goal of obtaining my Eagle Scout on December 15th, 2022. While growing up many of my peers have considered me kind and outgoing. I decided that the best treatment for this was for me to do everything I do for him to keep his legacy within me alive. It helped me to learn to persevere through those hard obstacles that I may face because in the end, they will have a positive outcome. While that was the main goal, it in turn, helped me to connect with others and form meaningful relationships as well as give me the confidence to interact with new people within my tight knit group to develop that sense of belonging, home, and safety. When I think of the most important leadership experience that I have had in high school, I feel that it would be living up to my grandfather’s dream for myself by leading as an editor of our yearbook staff, Working in the classroom with younger students, presiding as Criminal Justice President, presiding as Diversity Vice President, presiding as Student Council Class Rep, and presiding as Student Council Class Secretary. I believe that all of these qualities have shaped me into the person I am today and will help me in my future endeavors as well. When I graduate from college, I plan to have a secondary education degree in History and a minor in Leadership Studies because of who I have become as a person and leader in school and in my community. I believe that 20/20 Leadership has been one of the organizations that has turned my world around and has shown me and shaped me into the leader I am today. After college, I plan to use these leadership skills and guide/lead our younger generations to success for which they can become their own version of GREATNESS! Along with helping me build my character, it also inspired my goals for the future which are to become an educator once I graduate from Kansas State University. The skills that I learned with the help of the people in my life has given me the power to manage most days with what I feel is right. Even though I still have struggles, I owe most of my growth to these experiences. Most of all these experiences helped teach me that throughout life I will be faced with hard times but it is important to remember that these experiences will lead to positivity as long as I continue to push through because I am changing the lives of others and our younger generations. As I close, I want to leave you and myself with one last point. From all of these experiences that I have been given, I believe that in the end everyone will be able to shape themselves into their own character of leadership and greatness because of the cards they have been dealt with and given and the experiences they have faced. The last quote that I always like to leave with is by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and it states, “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.” This quote always reminds me that no matter what others say about you and who you are as a person, you are still living your dream that you have given yourself.