“And the winners of the Tuttle Middle School American Legion Awards for 2011 are Alyssa Yund and Justin Raters” announced the assistant principal at the time, Rex Ryker, in a congratulatory tone. I have never been more grateful and proud of an accomplishment in my life until this one. Scoring high on exams, making the high honor roll, and earning awards for my academics over the years have been satisfactory accomplishments on my behalf, but earning this award seemed the most important accomplishment to me. This accomplishment marked a significant transition between my childhood and adulthood within my culture. Most importantly, this award taught me life lessons that have shaped me into the individual that I am today and that will endure with me eternally. As I entered …show more content…
I acquired to simply stay true to myself. Throughout the rest of my high school years, I was my true self while conversing to other peers and serving as a leader to the younger gymnasts on my gymnastics team. Staying true to myself positively impacted me. I ended up earning the gymnastics mental attitude award and was nominated as a Character Counts representative for Crawfordsville High School. As a representative, a poster with my picture and a personal quote about Trustworthiness was hung on the wall in Crawfordsville Middle School. Throughout my freshman year of college or earlier adulthood, this lesson still remained with me. Since I currently attend a Christian, liberal arts university, my beliefs have been challenged due to various student and professor inputs. This has allowed me to dive deeper into my beliefs and gain a better understanding for what I believe in. Although my beliefs have been challenged along the way, I have continued to stay true to myself and stand firm in