1. In my first semester of college, I had a fairly easy schedule or so it seemed. I came to
school every Tuesday and Thursday for Psychology, U.S. History, and Algebra, and then I took
English and Music Appreciation online. Being straight out of high school, I had no real time
management skills and I was oblivious to college. As my first semester went on I totally
neglected my online classes out of sheer incompetence. I was fine with my regular classes, but I
had to drop my online classes to save my GPA. I took this as a lesson to take school seriously
and consider the consequences of not being focused on my school work.
From books, people, and yourself we are constantly learning doing what we see as right
in our eyes. From these we learn what needs to be correct or adjusted, so that we will be a better
person. Bad experiences, in our society, happen to be excellent teachers. My mother, my friend’s
mom, and my friend TJ are some of the people that show dissatisfaction in life and want to
improve. Through this discontent is the drive we use to gain success.
First, my mother was unsatisfied with the way she was living, not having a job to provide
a future she wanted for her children. So she decided that she was to go back to school, at age 35,
to become a R.N. We moved back with our grandparents so she could study and stay focused on
school. After four years at college and nursing school, she became a R.N at the North Mississippi
Medical Center.
Next, one my friend’s mother became discontent being with an E.M.T., and wanted to
become a paramedic so that she could feel a better sense of accomplishment. Seeing the
paramedics in the back of the ambulance,she wished thatshe could be the one saving the patients.
Recognition was what she strived for, but what got in the way were her family and an education.

2. Now that she has seen what it is like to be a paramedic, it is only another stepping stone, on her
way to becoming a flight nurse.
Lastly, my friend TJ, who got into habitual drug use, and decide to change his life after a
life altering experience. Growing up, he was always friendly, outgoing, and charismatic, but as
we got older he got into drug use. Being from a difficult family situation, it only made matters
worse as we entered our senior year of high school. In April, his mother developed breast cancer
and after that summer she passed away. She was the only one he considered to be family, but
now that she was gone he saw what he had become. He decided to sober up, quit everything his
mother hated, and be a productive member of society. With this he later on joined the Army to
have structure in his life.
These are life lesson that we should never wallow in our own despair and not see room
for satisfaction. These people are role models, a part of my life that is unique to the very way I
live. From my family to my friends this people mean a lot to me, because of the experiences we
have shared. Like a good friend of mine said “you can’t experience the highest high without
experience the lowest low.” I go by this saying and I think it has given me a greater appreciation
for life. In conclusion, through this discontent is the drive we use to gain success.
Jacob Burge