Kylah Gamble

My Personal Growth and Maturity

Since beginning at The University of Alabama, I’ve excelled academically and have been

challenged academically and personally as well. Going through the loss of my dad before my 17th

birthday was very hard for me. It was a very difficult decision to leave my mom and the rest of

my family to attend school away from home. Moving away from home has helped me to grow

tremendously without relying on my family every step of the way. Being the youngest and last to

go off to college, I was always the one being watched over and constantly checked on. Due to

this it was my goal to not only excel academically, but also show maturity personally. Now about

to enter my senior year of college, I believe I have done so.

Before coming to The University of Alabama, I had a step-by-step plan of what I wanted

to do and how I was going to do it, unfortunately it didn’t work out like that. Junior year I

changed my major and remember being nervous to tell my family, when I shouldn’t have been.

Part of growing up was realizing it was my personal choice. I felt as though changing my major

was a setback that would interrupt my plans, but it’s not. I also contribute this to my own

maturity as a person. Younger me would think that but due to my mindset changing, I have

learned things in no way go as you might have planned them. What I have been through has

taught me is that it is not at all a setback. Everything I want to accomplish can still be

accomplished; I’m just going a different route.

I believe I am a very resilient person; I have learned this through my time here at The

University of Alabama. I have been through many obstacles that could have stopped me from

pushing through, but it didn’t, it only made me push harder towards my goals. During my time

here at I joined a mentorship program called Al’s Pals, where I mentor an amazing group of third
graders. I have had the honor of being on the President’s List, Dean’s List, a member of The

National Honor Society, and a recipient of the Earnestine Tucker Award. I have excelled not

only inside the classroom but outside as well, my time here has shown me the importance of both

academic success and personal as well. I want to be able to continue my senior year here at The

University of Alabama and continue to attain more achievements that contribute to my academic

and personal growth. I also want to make my family happy and show them what I am capable of

and everything I have accomplished during college. The constant pressure to do well, due to the

rest of my family watching me and rooting for me is dedication to me, but I also want to push

myself to be the best I can be and continue to grow after college as well. I believe being a student

here at The University of Alabama has presented me to do so.