Failure is something that should not make you drop whatever goals you have for yourself. Sometimes, after going through failure more than once, we start thinking poorly about ourselves and simply just give up not knowing how close we can be to achieving whatever we dream of. Obstacles are not there to scare you off and make you turn around and run away. They are there so you can fight for what you are passionate about and to make you build a strong character.

There are so many times I have wanted to drop things in life. There were too many obstacles in the way of what I wanted to do. During my high school years, I wanted to drop out because I felt like I needed too many credits to graduate. I saw myself not completing my final year in high school because I had to do a lot of work and I was at the lowest rank of students in my grade at the time. My high school even made it seem like they were kicking me out of school due to the trouble I was getting into. They made me feel like I did not have any other option. I had to wait a month before I could go to a school so I could graduate. I ended going to an alternative school, an ALC.

While I was there for orientation at the ALC, I felt like I failed because everyone who goes to ALC is there because the other school no longer wanted to deal with them anymore. Back when I went to a regular high school, I heard things about ALC that I was starting to believe, I heard that all the bad kids go there. I heard that ALC was run like a prison. All these things made it seem like I failed and that I did not have any hope of making it out of there and getting my diploma.

When I started attending ALC, I would wake up and contemplate just dropping out because I felt like I was never going to make it there but after going awhile and not giving up, I saw that ALC was not so bad. I would like to make it clear to everyone— ALC has all types of wonderful kids and it has similarities to high school. One of my greatest memories comes from this small place; I created wonderful friendships that, to this day, I still have.

Thanks to not giving up, I ended up going further in life than I thought. I invested time to work on what I had to do at ALC and I got my diploma a year later. Then I got the college degree that I spent day and night at school to get. In life, things might not come out the way we want and that can get to anyone. The key to achieving what you want is just going with the flow. Keep striving for what you want even it does not go the way you wanted. You have to have the mentality of a champion and have winning on your mind.