Ashley DeVito

Rough draft essay

Mrs. Hawkley

10 October, 2022

Is there anywhere I should elaborate more?

“If you don’t like the road you're walking on, pave another one,” – Dolly Parton

I feel that sometime you do not realize you are making mistakes until it is too late. Sometimes it feels like
where you’re at in life, is where you are going to stay and there’s no other option. Even when things seem
like they are looking up, but they just go right back to where they were. When you feel like giving up is the
only option you have because the path you're on doesn’t have a light at the end of the tunnel. If only there
was a way to pull yourself up and see that you can change your path yourself, and you're the only person
who can change you and your destiny.

If you only knew that that there are other options out there, and that it just takes a little push and a little
motivation to get you out of your comfort zone. Right out of high school was such a challenge. Fell into the
wrong crowd right before graduating, which caused me to get into some trouble. I was partying too much
and not taking my future too seriously. My parents kicked me out at 18 and gave me ultimatums to get my
life back on track. I was always an athlete. I played softball my whole life and was very good at it. I trained
and was coached by some of the best players and even had coaches who trained athletes in the Olympics. I
was a pretty decent student as well. Oppurtunites that knocked on my door that I neglected to go have “fun”.
I suppose at that time in my life being so young, there were no real thoughts as to if things would get better,
or if I would ever become successful.

When you go through rough obstacles in life, it changes how you perceive life, people, and choices
you make for yourself. Thankfully I wasn’t too far gone in my ways to change that outcome. I was able to go
to a trade school for dental assisting. I took that course head on and was the top of the class and one out of
four people chosen to begin my internship at Loma Linda University. Honestly it was a dream come true.
Everyone wanted to go there to learn and work. I was able to work with top notch doctors from all walks of
life. That taught for a living and always had the willingness to teach me more that most in my profession had
to opportunity to have. On top of having the best of the best teaching me, I made lifelong friends. I even
joined an adult softball league.

I was very fortunate I had the drive and ability to change my life and turn my poor choices into
something far more than I thought I would. Many “friends” of mine fell very deep into their dark paths and
either continued to do bad or didn’t make it out alive. If you want better for yourself you need to not care
about what others will say or what they will think, and do it for yourself. Sometimes it is crucial to change the
road you're on and pave a new one. If you don’t you might end up somewhere you can't get out of or be able
to move forward.