My Challenge to Become a Better Person, Personal Statement Example

In plain terms, I must say that transferring to the four-year university is itself an objective of mine, and one that reflects a more lifelong objective: moving on. To do well where I am is, I am pleased to say, a hallmark of my academic career thus far. Challenges exist within each step of a journey, and my achievements support how seriously I approach “being in the moment.” At the same time, there is an undercurrent to my spirit, and it fuels another kind of ambition. Success at each juncture is critical to me, but equally important is never allowing even the best status quo to define me. Education itself is a “leading out”; to me this means understanding that there must always be a new direction ahead. To make this transfer, then, is a literal form of the visceral path I eagerly take.

This attitude is by no means a happy concept, or idea of progress I entertain as perhaps being desirable. Real experience has shown me how essential it is to my nature to challenge myself. In my eyes, to settle for anything is to settle for nothing, because it would mean denying myself opportunity I can only know when I open the next door. I was, I confess, gratified when my “status quo” in entering high school had me ranked as 45 out of 1700 students. When I had dropped to 402^nd place months later, an epiphany occurred within me. Nothing was wrong, people told me; I was still in the upper quarter of the class. A larger issue, however, took hold of me. This was not who I was. More exactly, satisfaction with this placement was not an option because it would translate to disappointing myself, and to not being the student I knew I could be. I did not require the world’s approval or disapproval. What mattered was what I felt to be true in my heart, and that was more than enough to compel the hard work that reversed the downturn. By the end of the second midterm, my ranking was 72^nd. Was I elated? No. I was glad to have seen my efforts bring results, but the lesson had been too well-learned. Simply, I could not be content at all if I were not working towards a better horizon.

As for other objectives: in all honesty, these will be revealed to me as I bring my confidence, energy, and abilities to what the university offers. Certainly, my passions lie in business, economics, and environmental issues, and I look forward to exploring learning in each. At the same time, to identify any specific goal now would, I think, underestimate both the school and myself. I cannot know now just how and where my education will place me. I can only know absolutely that, given the opportunity to move forward, I am inspired to set a pace that will do justice to the university and provide me with what I so urgently desire: the chance to keep moving forward.