Share the Dream: My Life, My Focus, My Goal Share the Dream: My Life, My Focus, My Goal: Blalock, Janoah

Talent Merit Scholarship Recipient

The experiences I’ve gone through during my life have helped shape my future and led me to become a better person. Throughout my experiences, I have learned many valuable lessons, the most important being to stay focused on your goals and continually strive to improve every day. During my schooling process, there were many distractions, and when I was younger, I usually let them disrupt me. I had many difficulties staying on track and staying focused. Many times in high school, I also became very lazy and did minimal work. At certain times, I would accept bad grades if they were passing and wouldn’t fully commit to school. Everything changed junior year when I realized that high school was a really important step in reaching my goals and doing the things I want to do in the future. Many teachers, counselors, and family members told me I had potential that I wasn’t putting to use, so I started to lock in.

I’ve faced many challenges in my life, the most difficult being switching from a Boston Public School to a Metco school. When I was in elementary I left a school in Boston to go to Lincoln Sudbury High School. It was so difficult because it was almost a 2-hour drive and something I wasn’t used to. At first, adapting to the environment was difficult because everyone looked different than me and didn’t have any friends at the school. The bus ride was also a huge challenge because I wasn’t used to sitting on a bus for hours. The long bus rides were exhausting and very draining. When I arrived at the school, it was very different than Boston; the students were more well-behaved, and the work was a lot more challenging. At first, I struggled due to the huge differences between schools. I eventually adapted to the school due to the welcoming teachers and faculty members who all wanted to see me succeed. When my parents first switched my school, I was upset, but in the future I realized it was necessary. The Boston public schooling system wasn’t the best for my future, and Metco set me up for success. What I learned from that experience was to always embrace change. The challenges I faced from going to a new school pushed me to become more independent and resilient. I also learned how to adjust to situations in which I felt uncomfortable.

From now to when I was a kid my goals have changed drastically. When I was in middle school, I wrote a reflection paper about what my goals were and what I wanted to do in the future, and I looked back on it recently, realizing I was oblivious to my situation. When I was a kid, I wanted to play in the NFL, which was not an option. I also wanted to go to a really big school far away, which I now realize would have hurt me more than it helped me. If I went to a big school far away, the financial debt I would be in would be massive, and it would have hurt me in the future. I also wanted to major in business, which has now changed after experiencing many business classes. Now that I'm in college, my goals are smarter, more achievable, and relevant. What I want to do now is graduate from a school in Massachusetts with a 3.0 or higher GPA. I also no longer want to major in finance and will most likely be switching my major soon. The goals I have now are so different from when I was a kid, reflecting the things I went through throughout life and my growing up.

In conclusion, success to me is not only graduating with a good GPA but doing something I'm going to enjoy, and that sets me up for the future. I want to take a path that allows me to grow and improve as a person and that allows me to have as much fun as possible. The challenges I went through taught me to embrace change and not be disappointed or distraught when something doesn’t go your way, because it can build your character. In addition, the experiences I went through also taught me to stay strong and focused. Finally, success in my life would be to feel satisfied with the direction I'm going towards for the future.