Personal Essay #2 First Draft

 

While staring at this prompt my mind drew a blank; “What is the best thing about you?” The question was so open-ended and vague and yet I still couldn’t think of an answer. I have no defining personality traits, no innate virtue, and I’m not blessed with ultra-intelligence or superhuman abilities. I started to think more broadly about what I really was good at. Of the activities I thought of, I realized I was inherently bad at all of them. However, I was dedicated to them, and kept with that interest of mine to eventually upgrade my skills. I think one of my best qualities is my ability to pursue my passions and work hard to improve them. I always look to learn more about, and improve in the things I’m interested in.

I think this quality of  delving deep into what I’m interested in has found success in many areas of my life. A particular area that I can think of is Quiz Bowl, one of my favorite activities. In it, two teams compete to answer questions from academic areas like history, science, and literature. As I found myself taking a growing interest in the activity, I put my efforts into it through a concentrated effort. I dedicated much of my free time towards improving at Quiz Bowl in a short burst. When I started out, I had barely any knowledge base.  I made thousands of flashcards and poured in hours upon hours of reading to improve my proficiency. By channeling my interests in a game centered around academic interests, I was able to excel at it and enjoy it even more than when I first started.

Another example of when my perseverance with my interests helped me was with soccer. My sophomore year I decided to play during the spring season after having not played since 7th grade. I loved playing, but I was not good. I was slow, inept, and it was evident that I wasn’t comfortable on the field. However, because I enjoyed it so much, I was insistent on improving to the point where I was confident in my abilities. With Elliot, our NBA sized goalkeeper departing for college, there was an open spot on the team. I, who stood about a foot shorter, worked hard to improve over the summer and eventually filled that slot on the squad for the fall season. 

Issues tend to arise through this so-called “quality” though. I often find myself distracted by Wikipedia rabbit holes on niche subjects that will never help me in my practical life, I many lose track of my present goals and what it is I am supposed to be doing. Because I love to dive so deep into what it is that intrigues me, there are times when it can eat up parts of my schedule. While I view one of my strengths as the ability to be perseverant in pursuing my goals and following my interests, I need to learn to balance my pursuit of the fun things in life so I can deal with the tasks which are less exciting.