PennState Personal essay

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When sitting in class, almost all students sit attentively while their teacher provides them with the knowledge that they will need to pass their course. Not many students struggle to simply sit still and listen to their teacher. This would be one simple thing that I struggled with most of my highschool years because of my recently diagnosed ADHD. I had to work twice as hard to pay attention, retain information, and succeed in my classes, and until recently I had no medicine to help me sit still and pay attention. Before my junior year of high school I was honestly a fairly average student, and I never challenged myself. I guess I could say that my freshman and sophomore years left something to be desired, but as I matured I started to realize that I would never achieve any of my future goals if I didn’t challenge myself. This led to me making the decision to sign up for multiple honors and AP classes even though I had only previously had experience in one honors class. I knew that it wouldn’t be an easy year for me, and that I would have to work harder than I ever had before, but I was still brimming with excitement. My junior year has subsequently ended, and I can confidently say that I was correct. This past year was the hardest year in school that I had ever experienced, But I did great! I spent hours going over information and notes that I received in class, and I didn’t shy away from asking my peers for help. I felt like I learned something about myself in that year. I learned that I am able to rise to the challenges set in front of me, even if they seem daunting at first. And every time that I manage to reach a goal that I set out for, like making the varsity soccer team, or trying out for my school’s audition orchestra, I felt an immense amount of pride, and a desire to accomplish more. This fueled me to pursue my dream of acquiring an aerospace engineering degree and becoming a pilot. My interest in aeronautics had skyrocketed since using the flight simulators in my school’s aeronautical studies class, and the strong work ethic that I created has led me to be extremely confident in my abilities to excel at Penn State. Penn State offers a variety of rigorous science and mathematical courses and an unparalleled engineering program that I know will challenge me and better me as a student. I am prepared to work as hard as possible to succeed at Penn State and I know that I will have to in order to reach the goals that I set for myself. When I reflect on how hard I worked to do well in school; I never think of it scornfully. If anything the fact that I had ADHD helped me to excel past what I thought I was previously capable of.