<p>Hey CC,</p>
<p>First post. Don't know where else to look for help. Any feedback for my essay would be appreciated!</p>
<p>Even as a young kid, my thirst for knowledge was prominent. I asked my mother and father questions about anything and everything. The brash amount of those that were presented must have annoyed them at least once; "What's this? Where did it come from? Can I have one of them for Christmas?" During the awkward phases of middle school, transitioning through the prepubescent stages, to the seemingly brawn times of high school, the mindset carried on throughout these six years.</p>
<p>Adolescence never prevented me from wanting more. At such a young age, I was able to pick up relatively new things and learn them quickly. The fun part for myself was being able to apply them. Application not only meant putting it to use and seeing how things were connected, it meant being able to share what I had learned. Math concepts, scientific theories, new vocabulary words; it was all so new! Yet through it all, I realized my love for learning. Being part of a student body where academic achievements were sometimes frowned upon - rather, not as praised as they should have been - I found myself hiding my intellectual ingenuity. Judgmental friends were constantly looking for ways to call me out of the blue. "Hey, Niko. Show me your grade!" a fellow peer would say, and then I'd just walk away, keeping a simple letter to myself. This conservative self proved detrimental in terms of learning.</p>
<p>Not until my junior year was my aspiration of being able to share my knowledge made possible. The Drum Major role in our marching band pushed me out of my comfort zone and required me to share personal experiences with a large group - 200+ people in fact. Faced with the budget cuts statewide, the recent layoff of our three band directors put an even greater burden on our shoulders. As a potential leader, I found myself having to carry the group forward, fueling every practice with this determined positivism to overcome adversity. Many students in our senior class presented the empty questions to me over the course of the summer: "How is the band going to turn out? Will we actually compete for the fall season?" Throughout the fall, many other groups wanted us to fail in terms of competition, yet we just kept on pushing till the very end. The challenge never fully overcame us, however.</p>
<p>By enhancing my ability to communicate, there was relative ease in terms of keeping our class together. Being able to finally reciprocate what I've acquired through my academic years made me realize that to do something like this was what intrigued me most. Hiding my intelligence was unnecessary, a struggle which I faced in my younger years, yet actually overcame and turned around for the better. Presented with the task of having to aid people not only boosted my confidence as a person, it opened up a new passion of wanting to better others. The adolescent mindset remained unchanged, where learning something new everyday took on a different meeting.</p>