"My Sister's Sacrifice, My Motivation" by Gissell

"My Sister's Sacrifice, My Motivation" by Gissell - August 2025 Scholarship Essay

“Senioritis”—a term that many students my age use to describe the exhaustion and lack of motivation that hits during their final year of high school. It’s often joked about, but for some, it becomes a reality that affects their academic performance and confidence. As I approach my own senior year, I am committed to resisting that mindset. I want to finish strong, not only for myself, but for the future I’m working so hard to build.
Looking back, my sophomore year was one of my most difficult. I lacked motivation and often didn’t have the energy to complete my work. Although I didn’t fail any classes, I constantly felt like I wasn’t reaching my potential. Math has always been particularly difficult for me—it takes me longer to understand concepts, and I’ve often felt behind compared to my classmates. But this past year, I passed my math class for the first time in three years. While that may seem like a small achievement to others, to me, it was everything.
My motivation comes from someone very close to me—my older sister. At the age of 7 years old, I became an aunt. My sister, who was only seventeen years old at the time, was pregnant. My parents were devastated and could not even imagine a child raising another child. It was very hard for all of us to watch her struggle through those hard nine months. However, she was strong and resilient and pushed through it. Now why would I even include this information, might you ask? Even when dealing with a teen pregnancy, she always managed to make her education her top priority. She never missed a day of school, even when she was advised to stay home. My sister graduated at the top of her class in high school and even graduated college with honors.
Of course, I am not in the same situation as she was 10 years ago, but this comes to show how others have it way harder and still achieve greatness. Her story continues to motivate me to this day and is what got me through these last two years of high school. I may not be the best student, but I always give my full effort.
Now going back to the term “senioritis” and how many often lose motivation and hope, I want to do the complete opposite. Although I am entering my last year of high school and it seems as if all this stress and hard work is finished, we have so much more to do. I don’t want to fall behind but rather push ahead. My dream is to become a radiologist and study medicine abroad in college. If I stop putting my all in now, then how am I going to be able to accomplish this dream of mine that I have had for so long? Winning this scholarship would not only relieve some financial stress—it would serve as a powerful reminder that I, too, can achieve something greater.