Many students have a hard time beginning their college search.  Some are afraid of the big change they are heading for and others simply just do not know where to start.  When I first started searching for and reading about colleges, I noticed the whole experience was just like when I learned how to ski many years ago. 

            I was eight years old and in the second grade.  The only kinds of sports I knew about back then were team sports such as baseball, basketball, and football.  I had never heard of a sport that one could play individually: where it took the skill of one person to be good rather than a whole team.  The thought of an individually played sport really intrigued me because I hated relying on teammates.  If one person messed up, it affected the whole team. 

Mid-winter, my elementary school hosted a ski night at the local mountain, Bousquet.  I thought that coasting down a snowy slope would give me the best rush of my life.  Thatπs where I was wrong.  I was so excited to try something new that the thought that it might be hard never crossed my mind.  Suddenly, I was crying on the side of the hill.  Skiing was proving itself to be the hardest thing in the world.  My dad was trying to help me in every way possible, but I just couldnπt get the hang of it.  I couldnπt even stand on my skis and when I finally managed that, getting down to the bottom seemed to be impossible.  I couldnπt keep my skis together, I kept falling over, and I had snow in every possible place it could squeeze into.  I was having an awfully hard time.  As I scooted down the slope half standing half sitting I saw my friends fly by me with their families.  I just wanted it to come naturally to me.  I knew I needed help or all Iπd be doing in the future was sledding.

My dad managed to get me back down to the lodge where I told him that I would never attempt to ski again.  He didnπt argue with me after having to help me down the mountain just moments ago.  He didnπt want to go through that again, so we left. 

A couple of days later, after the shock wore off, I realized that I couldnπt let that be my only skiing experience of my life so I told my parents that I wanted to give it another shot.  They got me enrolled in beginner lessons and I forced myself to give it another try.  I had such a hard time at first.  Other kids seemed to pick it up after just one lesson, but it took me a little longer.  I made myself attend each lesson and I really worked on everything my instructor said I was doing wrong and eventually it clicked.  I could ski.  I went on to take many more years of lessons and then during middle school I began racing.  Now, I ski for the Downhill Ski Team at my high school and this year, my senior year, I will be captain. 

Had I not forced myself to go back and give it another shot I probably would not have learned to love skiing the way I did.  All those years of lessons and racing have paid off and now, I know I could ski anywhere. 

When I started looking for colleges, I felt the same way that I did as I slid down the slope for the very first time.  I was a little confused at how to start searching and upset when I realized that it would be a lot of work.  But I kept pushing forward with my search and the more I looked at and read about different places, the more comfortable I became with the entire experience, and now, I know I am ready to get started. 

Throughout middle school I didnπt stand out, I blended in with the crowd and didnπt have a load of friends. I enjoyed doing my work back then and really got into the subjects that I was good at. Science was one such subject. All through eighth grade I took pride in my Aπs on tests, quizzes and the homework which I always turned in. Science was by far my favorite subject. I found everything about it came easy to me. Thus, my choice to go into honors biology seemed like a very smart one. Of course I had no idea what biology was at the time, being but an ignorant middle-schooler. Little did I know, honors biology was going to be the hardest subject for me to get through that I had ever signed myself up for.

To say that biology was ≥challenging≤ isnπt even close to how I felt when I entered the class. Suddenly, everything was in a foreign language, everyone was looking at me and no matter how much I studied I never had the right answer. I felt like the odd one out, everyone else seemed so much smarter than I. They would ask questions based on previous knowledge and I felt like I had been living under a rock. For some reason I couldnπt focus on anything I had to do. Doing reports about plants and photosynthesis and cells was not my forte. First quarter I couldnπt do anything better than a 78, second quarter a 75, and third quarter a 74. That was the first time I got consistent Cπs in a class. I felt like I couldnπt accomplish anything.

            Then one day in fourth quarter something clicked.  My pen suddenly knew all the answers, the light bulb in my head was replaced, and my brain started to work again. I also realized I wasnπt in a room of geniuses coming up with formulas and the cure for the common cold, I was in a room of 9^th graders trying to learn biology, and that everyone in the room had strengths and weaknesses like I did.  The subject was DNA, one of interest to me and I finally felt good about myself. I found out that all along all I had to do was find out how to make the subject interesting to me. I started studying more, doing better in class, and getting better grades as well. My final quarter I ended up with a 95, something I never thought would happen.

            Through that experience I have learned to not give up and to try to adapt to the subject matter. I have figured out how, if you have to take a certain class, make it interesting for you and do well in it. I continue to use the experience to keep me doing my best and in the future I will remember that though at times I will struggle, I can get past the difficulties and succeed.