My experience with anxiety has affected me since my childhood. When I went to therapy for the first time my parents described young me as anxious and it had only gotten worse. I wasn’t even able to speak for myself at my own therapy appointment. Living with anxiety is difficult and a plague. Yet most people do. I was lucky enough to be able to get medication to help lessen my anxiety, but it will never completely go away. This will be something I live with my entire life, and I’ve grown to accept that. I now have techniques to help myself when my anxiety becomes too much. Yet, the damage has already been done. I’m currently applying to many scholarships, as are most people in my situation wanting to go to college, but I find myself not being able to add many achievements and extracurriculars. My anxiety has held me back for so long, I have nothing to put down. This will greatly affect how many scholarships I am able to get. Luckily I have a few extracurriculars, but nowhere near enough to get me as many scholarships as I need. It’s an awful thing to realize I got help but it was too late for it to help me. Not that I’m ungrateful and I can now live with less anxiety, I only wish it could have been sooner. I want to pursue a college degree because I can do something I love. I have not yet determined my specific area of study, though I have an idea, I know it will be something I love to do. Having been held back by anxiety my entire life, I refuse to let it determine the career I will have for the rest of it. Another reason I would like to go to get a degree is because I would like to go to a college campus. As I’ve stated, my entire life so far has been about anxiety and hiding away. Now that I’ve gotten the proper help I would like to stop hiding and get out a bit more. I would like to be able to join those clubs I was always afraid to join as a child. I would like to be able to pursue something I love doing without fear and anxiety holding me back. I want to make those connections and get experience that I can one day put on the resume I will give to my future employer. I want to be able to make friends and have fun, something I was never able to have when I was young. Anxiety has ruled my life, and I refuse to let it rule me any longer.