Im trying to sell myself to you. I have to come up with a story that jumps off the page. Considering im only 17, I could really only think of a few life experiences that taught me something that was meaningful.

I take it very seriously when someone tells me that I can not do something.  I wanted to be a lifeguard last year.  The captain told me I could not swim good enough to pass the physical test.  I decided I would finish the race before the time limit or drown trying harder than any of my peers.  After training for months, and finishing the swim minutes before the deadline, I had no interest in being a lifeguard anymore.  I only took the test to prove the captain wrong.  From my past experiences, I should have known better.

Five years ago, in 8th grade I needed a computer. After researching, I found that I could build one and decided that was my plan of action. I shopped for components for weeks and presented my idea to my mom. I received a resounding “you can not do that”. I knew that I could. Knowing this, I did what any reasonable person would do. I faught. And I faught. Then fought some more. To this day, I am not sure if my mom actually had the trust in me, or if she just wanted to let me waste my money and teach me a lesson. When the components were delivered, I started to doubt myself for the first time. There were so many parts and I had never done this before. What if I messed it up? It would be such a colossal waste of money. This was the moment that I decided failure was not an option. I decided that I would work harder and accomplish what I set out to do. I was not going to allow myself to fail. The feeling after it booted up was priceless, and I will never forget it.

I learned that others cannot tell you what you can and cant do. I shouldn't listen to other peoples negative opinions of me or what they "know" im capable of. I also learned that proving those people wrong is extremely rewarding.