Personal Essay On Overachievement

Determination. Perseverance. Overachievement. These words are just a few of the attributes that encompass my essence as a hardworking, overachieving African American woman and student. Today and decades back to when my ancestors lived, society told me nonchalantly and often times overtly what type of future I was capable of achieving as an African-American woman.
Matriculating from a child into a young lady, the color of my skin often times influenced how I felt about myself and who I could be as an individual in society. As I sat in the front of the class at a predominately white school or walked down the hallways, I anticipated the moment that I would yet again be called another racial name- sometimes from those who looked similar to me but did not understand the essence of their doings. Reaching my final year in middle school, I began to define myself in a way that encompassed the names I was called. Instead of describing myself as the intellect I was or by my astounding level of accomplishments, I defined myself as someone who must be unfortunate to be African-American. Witnessing very few African-American women being presented in a positive manner in the news, learning my entire history and heritage in a single textbook chapter, and hearing demeaning words merely because of my dark skin tone inhibited me from seeing what roles I was capable of having in society. I often times asked
They have influenced and inspired me to achieve the accomplishments that society said were not emblematic of African-American women-disproving societies predetermined image of who or what I could become. I refused to permit the color of my skin and what others thought of my ethnicity to hinder me from achieving my goals and