Ultimate Success by JoVona Taylor

The first day of freshman orientation seemed to be the most thrilling day of my fourteen year existence on Earth. I had been anticipating the arrival of that day since I received my letter in the mail notifying me of the event, and it felt like years before the day actually arrived. Walking through the auditorium entrance, my heart filled with excitement, visualizing all the opportunities that this four year institution held for me. Although I sat through hours of lectures from the principal and faculty of the school, there was only one memorable segment of the assembly that has been instilled in my mind from that day forth. The speech was made by my principal, Ms. Kirby, and it was regarding the significance of obtaining and achieving goals in high school and in life.
After hearing that speech I decided to regularly create new goals for myself and make them my top priority. One of my most successful goals so far has been to make the most of my high school experience both academically and socially. I would hate to be an adult and look back at my teenage life with disappointment, knowing that there where so many great opportunities given to me as a high school student that I did not take to my advantage. I have dedicated myself to a number of activities during high school and I plan to participate in a few more before I graduate.
In the process of achieving my goal of taking advantage of all that high school has to offer, I made a mental list of all the interesting activities that my school presented such as clubs, sports, and other extracurricular activities. Once I discovered the activities that attracted me the most, I made a pact to myself that I would join at least five of these activities before my second year of high school. Now I am currently in my senior year and I have been apart of several different school clubs . My activities consist of Freshman/ Sophomore Mentor, F.O.C.U.S Community Service Club, Ladies Lounge Leadership Club, Kaleidoscope Newspaper Committee, and Ivy League Club. Each of these clubs and sports teach me a different lesson that I can use in my future life, such as responsibility, commitment, and to respect all people. Although this vast amount of after school activities takes a lot of dedication and time from my normal teenage life, I always feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that these activities will be of more assistance to me in the long run.
Along with participating in the extra curricular activities at my school, I also attend another after school program called After School Matters/ Gallery 37 Downtown Region. The program was created by the mayor of Chicago’s wife, Maggie Daley, and it is offered to all artistically talented youth in Chicago, Illinois. The class that I attend is called Fashion Design. It is a really entertaining yet educational course which teaches me how to illustrate and create my very own clothing line. This program challenges my imagination and opens my eyes to all the creative features of the world. It also assists in achieving my goal of using all the opportunities given to me as a youth in America.
Thinking back to that moment at my freshman orientation, I never would have believed that I could accomplish so much. When creating all these different goals, I did not believe that I could do so well at achieving them. Being a teenager, life is open for so many unfixable mistakes. With all the space given for wrong turns there is no way of staying on track unless you have goals set to keep your life in order. Goals seem to be the greatest factor in keeping my life on course. My life seems to be heading in the right direction and my goals are a major part in this ultimate success.