Here is my essay. Just as a bit of background information, I founded an online business that has generated over $500K in the two years I have had it. I decided to write about it. Please advise for any grammatical as well as structural errors. Thank you.
<pre><code>It is five oclock in the afternoon; I sit in my room working on homework until I hear the doorbell ring. The doorbell ring is not unexpected; by now I am use to it. I head downstairs and open the garage doors. I stand by while the Federal Express pickup driver backs up the oversized truck into my driveway to pick up the packages I have to ship for the day. Once the truck is parked, the driver throws my packages into the truck, and I cringe at every thud I hear when each package hits the cold steel floor. He then signs the manifest form, and we both go on with our days.
Despite having loads of homework, I come home every day to my office and respond to the mound of e-mails that have accumulated over the past few hours. I record the paid orders and print out labels for each package and then head to my garage. My garage is the site I use for operating my online business. It is usually filled with an excess of over twenty thousand dollars of inventory. It is filled to the ceiling with products on top of products waiting to be liquidated. In the garage, I package each and every item needed to ship for that day. CD and DVD players are placed and sealed in the small boxes, and subwoofers and enclosures in the larger boxes. After completing my work, I somehow manage to finish all my homework and live a normally scheduled life.
I enter each day distraught and jaded from the long day of school, but once I begin operating my business, I am free to do whatever I wish. For these periods of time, I am in my own realm. I make business decisions for myself, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. I imagine myself at the head of a multi-million dollar company, pretending the executive decisions I make enhance the productivity and profitability of the company. I spend hours diligently packaging items for shipment, amid the messy garage with scraps of cardboard all over the place, large packages of tape scattered throughout, and scissors and box-cutters misplaced in many locations. I leave my workplace sweaty and energized. I come out relieved of any stress. The laborious work is surprisingly when my thoughts flourish. The intensive, sweat-inducing work stimulates my mind. It is the only place where my mind can be clear of everything else and focus solely on myself and my plans for the future, what I want to do, and what I want to accomplish. I think of how far I have come, how far I surpassed my minuscule goal of freshmen year to open a small online business.
I have learned many things from running an e-commerce business. The task of balancing a rigorous high school education with running an online business and living a normal life has been quite challenging. Occasionally my father comes home complaining that my business is taking up too much of my time and that I should try to downsize or completely cease operating it in order to focus more on my studies. However I am always a stalwart supporter of my business, arguing that I can certainly handle it. I believed a high school career by itself without any activities would be limiting my full potential and abilities. I came to learn the necessity of living a balanced life and how one must be able to juggle multiple responsibilities.
I realize that my experience may seem somewhat minute in the scheme of life. I could have chosen to write about other things, but this activity will remain important to me, as a sort of supplement to my high school career. The experience has truly been unforgettable and invaluable. As I go on to college and enter the professional realm, I will be able to look back and see where I started from.
</code></pre>