During my 11th Grade year, I wanted to take part in more extracurricular activities. I felt like something was missing in my life. Where I had previously enjoyed going straight home after school, I then felt bored with my regular, empty schedule. Furthermore, college preparation approached, and I felt the need to join organizations for my resume and college applications. Out of all the organizations, I wanted to join clubs or school groups that helped others. Previously in my 10th Grade year, I enjoyed participating in a STEMmersion based around volunteering and community service. Therefore, I decided to join Kiwanis Club and National Honor Society for their reputations of helping the local community and school.

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When I joined Key Club and NHS, I expected to have fun aiding with charity projects and conducting school events. While I was partially correct in my expectation, I extremely underestimated my requirements as a member of the organizations. Both Key Club and NHS required me to meet a certain amount of volunteer hours per quarter or semester. Key Club required me to volunteer eight hours a quarter, and NHS required me to volunteer 12 hours a semester, collecting amounting to 28 hours a semester of volunteering. The surge of hours overpowered me, to a point where I only barely earned my first quarter Key Club and NHS hours, and I did not earn enough second quarter Key Club hours to meet my quota. Along with my schoolwork and other projects, I had a difficult time maintaining my extracurricular activities and my grades. I realized my current path could not allow me to maintain my grades and my extracurricular activities without compromising the other. However, I wanted to keep the good grades I earned, and I enjoyed participating in both Key Club and NHS. I realized that I had to work harder to keep my goals.

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To counter my challenge, I enacted scheduling strategies (that I talk about in my 11th Grade Growth Page) and sacrificed more of my free time. I gave up weekends of playing and relaxing to volunteer at local charity centers. I helped participate in more school events to get more volunteer hours, which used time I could have spent at home. I studied more each night to keep good grades, ensuring my stay in Key Club and NHS. When schoolwork became harder or larger, I did not stop. I continued to spend time at community service organizations and school events, as seen in the given photographs. By working harder, I helped clean trash outside of my school, I assisted with a blood donation event, and I spent a Saturday at an organization called OneBistro, where I helped feed poorer income families and cleaned dishes. Instead of giving in to the overwhelming hours, I kept pressing forward. In the end, I managed to get all my necessary hours for Key Club and NHS to stay in the organizations for the rest of the year.

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From all I have done, I believe this experience and the photographs associated with it demonstrate my growth in Persistence. I grew in Persistence through this experience by refusing to give up my goals and by working past increasingly large amounts of other work, even after I changed my lifestyle. I worked harder and harder until the end, which allowed me to participate in all of the activities shown. I believe this experience helped mold me into a harder working person, and I am grateful for it.