I believe that good things come to those who wait. Generally, people hate waiting for anything in our society today. Patience is not something that people enjoy practicing. It may be difficult, but I have seen the reward of beautiful things to those who wait.

Now, by me believing that good things come to those who wait, I do not mean to sit back, do nothing, and expect wonderful things from that. I mean, pursue your dreams, your passions, your ambitions, and work hard, but have patience in the process.

An example of this would be my high school running career. I began to run cross- country in 7th grade. As I quickly fell in love with it, I formed a dream of becoming a state champion. Therefore, I began to train while keeping that goal in my head the whole time. As a 9th grader, I failed to even make it to state. As a 10th grader, I made it to the state championship, but ran poorly. Then, in 11th grade I was in amazing shape and was predicted to win. I thought it was my time. I ran well, but finished state runner-up. My coaches and parents told me that I would be a state champion someday; it obviously was not on that day, but they said it would happen. All I could do was train for the next 365 days to prepare for that race next year. Then, when it was my senior year, I not only won the state championship, but I broke the state record. I may have had to wait for six years, but it was well worth it.

My parents and my mentor have been great teachers of this belief that I have developed. Also, the Bible is a wonderful teacher of this lifestyle as well. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I realize that my hope is in Him. If I am struggling, then I wait, stay strong in my faith, and watch Him get me through every troubling circumstance. As a Christian, my eyes are fixed on Heaven. It seems like that time is forever away, but all I can do is live my life for Jesus Christ now, and at the same time, wait on seeing Him in eternity someday.

My mentor, Reagan Farris, has also taught me how to apply this motto in my life. He has shown me how to wait for my future spouse. I believe that I should not date anyone that I am not interested in marrying. Throughout middle school and high school, I watched many of my friends date for stupid reasons and it only ended in pain for both people. I waited and trusted in God to put a girl in my life that I could see myself marrying someday. And in my senior year of high school He did just that. I have had one girlfriend and I have been dating her for nine months. I may have had to wait for eighteen years, but it was worth it because we have become best friends and we want our relationship to take us into marriage someday.

As you can see, I am convinced that good things come to those who wait. It has been applied in multiple categories of my life. Even now, I realize that this college journey will be extremely difficult and seem to take along time, but the rewards of success in college will be worth the long wait.