It was May 9^th of 2012 that we had our senior class’s awards night presentation. This was a very special day to me because this was the day, to me, that would determine whether all of my hard work on completing scholarship forms would pay off or not. I filled out over 10 different scholarship forms taking up many hours during my senior year. These scholarships would be a major help in me paying for college which was greatly needed. So this is how the evening went…
               I drove to my grandparents’ house with my father to pick up my grandpa because he wanted to go to the event. We arrived at my high school at 6:30, I found a seat in the auditorium with friends and we talked until the event started at 7. My friends said not to expect to get more than 3 scholarships other than the Hixson, which I had already been told that I was the recipient of, because they had been told that you only get about 20% of the scholarship awards that you fill out. This made me think that the night was not going to end as good as I had hoped. Then the event started.
               At first my guidance counselor gave her usual introduction and then the event commenced in its regular order. My name had not been called off at all for the first half of the ceremony and I was getting disappointed. I was also thinking that I had wasted all of my time completing those scholarship forms while I could have been doing other more important things. But then I heard the speaker call off my name. That was the first time my name was called off to be awarded a scholarship. I was very happy with myself but then my name was called again, and again and several times after that. I was so surprised with all of the times my name had been called.
               I was extremely happy with how the night had gone and was so glad that all of my hard work had actually paid off for once! I felt at my best because I had actually succeeded in something that really mattered to me. My father and grandparents were so happy for me, which was the best feeling in the world. I could not have asked for a better way to end my high school career.
               In the end I received over $5,000 extra in scholarships other than the Christina Hixson award. To me this is the best explanation to the question of when I felt at my “best” but I feel that everyone is always at their best in current time instead of in the past. This experience has left a lasting impression on me about my town and I will always remember this great night.