Jack Terry's story inspires me by giving me relief and optimism toward a future of success. A sense of hope that no matter where I come from or who I am, I can be the person I admire to be, a person who works hard towards his passion and who gives back to the community just as Jack Terry did with students. With multiple setbacks and trauma, Jack Terry trudged through his journey and became someone who I aspire to be. Not many people can be as resilient in a process of hardships and adversities. This is the reason why I not only want to be like Jack Terry but also why I relate to him as I am going through this process. There have been many difficulties that shaped me into the person I am now but one that really breaks me to this day is the constant pressure I am put for having a learning disability, ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). People make fun of me and some never take this learning disability seriously. I try to hide this “shame” by never taking medication at school or ever talking about it. It is always a dark figure in the back of my mind that I think about every day. It breaks my heart when I know that I am not like anyone. It pushes me away from succeeding in my academics and goals for the future. A weight that is unbearable to carry is on my shoulders each day. Despite this struggle, I made sure that I never let it drag me. I made sure to never get the best of me. I know I am at a disadvantage and I work even harder to show what type of person I am and what I can be. I push myself out of my comfort zone and make sure to go beyond my reach. I learned that even if I wasn't the same as anyone or if I wasn't given the opportunity everyone else had, that this adversity would not steer me into a mindset full of negativity or mishaps. I not only learned what this setback can do but realized who I stand in this world. I learned that I was never alone. Others were struggling the same as me, which is why through my intended majors I currently have an interest in, psychology attracts my eye. The power to learn the concept of the human mind will make me able to understand others. Understanding others just as I did with Jack Terry makes me feel connected. Through making connections, I can give back to society. Having someone in support of their problems will ease the pain being carried. I want to bring happiness to their hearts and their pathway into the greater good of their future. Why do I consider my learning disability an adversity I overcame in my life, you may ask? Even though I still struggle with ADHD to this day, I’ve had my downfall in life at some point because of it. Junior year of high school was a dark confusing time for me as I also struggled with depression. I took many AP courses and extracurriculars inside and outside of school as well as educational programs. I was building myself from who people perceive me to be as a student who is handicapped in their job of learning. I then realized that I was doing too much. I started to fall behind and my time management became worse than ever. Luckily, I recovered from this incident and became the optimistic person I am today.

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Im destined for Civil Engineering. An engineering discipline that conducts itself with design, construction, and maintenance of the environment. The highest peak if interest was caught from this major. It not only caught the interest but was suitable in the subjects that I most excel in. Overworking myself, bad influence, and the lack of support caused my downhill of junior year in highschool. Filling my schedule with sports to improve and improve at what I love most in and what keeps my mental health stable was the only thing in mind. Along with a packed schedule came with little time for homework, especially my AP classes. 9pm became a regular time to arrive home. The weight of exhaustion became a real problem. I only had about two hours to complete any homework. Two hours wasn't enough when I am a perfectionist with my work. Hygiene disrupted this routine if doing homework as it is mandatory to me and for everyone. The amount of sleepless nights I would have was harsh and for what, to have my homework done half-ways by the time on Thursday? Pack-stile of work is on my shoulders as I tried my hardest to complete it until Thursday came. On Thursdays I had to work a graveyard shift for my dad as he had undergone surgery which meant me assisting him in whatever I can on that specific day. By the time I came into school on Fridays I would have gotten 3 hours of sleep or even a lot less. It was shown that my time management was the worst. Along with that stress came the bad influence from friends. My friend group became my way of coping by having fun and not giving much thought of my actions. I was always pressured to do what I knew was bad for me. I had no support when it came to school and had to find my ways of succeeding as I was viewed as the last hope in the family to succeed. The weight that carried for this status was unbearable. I took as many AP classes as possible even if I have a disability(ADHD) in my way, and it was all for the expectations of my family. I was depressed. I had no idea what I was doing. I was playing a role of what people wanted me to play and not for what my passion is. Took me an entire year to find myself. Although my academics declined by a great number I soon realized what I had done wrong. I looked back on myself and my mistakes to alter them for the better. I stopped hanging out with those friends and stopped listening to any bad influence and put myself in a 6 week summer program called upward bound and was in a strict rule system where I was pressured into doing my work on time with good work showing from it. I loved this program as I got to learn and overcome what was so difficult for me to overcome. Instead of having many missing assignments I started turning them in on time and putting my best effort as well as studying for what will benefit me not during that time but for the rest of my life. In the end I got back into track of the straight A student I was and got an award in physics of the hard work and dedication I put. And i used that very example from that program and used it onto my school year and the rest that follow even if its small.