“My Own Path” by Nery Bonilla

As I walk on campus for the first time, A mix of nervousness and excitement tighten in
my chest. The September air is cool and could smell the city mixed with the grass of the
courtyard. The gothic buildings loom overhead as I climb the massive stairs of Shepard Hall to
the third floor. My shoes squeaked on the stairs and the wooden railing, felt cold and rough under
my hand. Inside, the hallway was quiet except for the muffled voices of people talking inside
classrooms, and the tapping of footsteps. On my way to my first class I could not to thinking of
how crazy it is that I am in college now. Especially since, for a long time I did not think of
college as a part of my future.

A few years earlier, when I was in the beginning of my junior year, college was not on
my radar. I walk into my Career Exploration class, the hallways filled. My friends in class were
already talking about college plans. When they turned to me, they asked “Nery, what college do
you want to go to,” I stare at them not really knowing what to say. Up to that point college was
not on my list. So, I just said “Im not going to college,” they continue to ask why. At that point I
did not even know why I did not want to attend college. After thinking a little more, it came to
me the reason I did not want to go to college was because my older siblings did not so I thought I
can do the same. Also, my grades were not the best so I may not even get into college.

My mind began to change one morning in the school weight room. I was talking to my
friend Rayan, the air thick with a sharp smell of rubber mats and sweat, and the loudspeaker
blasting music. He began to talk about college again; I tried to act interested in the conversation.
But I was not sure if I wanted to talk about it. Finally, he asked me again “Why don’t you want to
go to college?” I shrugged and said, “because my siblings didn’t.” He continued to ask questions.
“Okay, but what have your siblings done since high school?” I felt my throat tighten. “Nothing,
they haven’t really done much.” Deep down I knew college was something I once wanted. But
after seeing neither my brother nor sister go, I gave up on that dream. Their path felt like the only
one I could follow since I had no other examples. That conversation stayed stayed with me for a
while, and made me realize I didn’t have to follow the same path.

That summer before my senior year I still felt uncertain about my future. I tried to have
fun, but my mind kept drifting to dark thoughts of my future. To distract myself I started to write
down stories. I always liked making up stories in my head but never had really written them
down. Soon after, I discovered a passion for film making. What once felt like just a dream felt
like it could become a reality again. I sorta gave up on it thinking it could never become a reality.
Because of this I started to look up colleges that offered film programs. For the first time I
wanted something so bad, my passion for filmmaking gave me what I needed to apply to college.
When Applications came around, I started to work harder in school and focused on
writing more scripts. As time kept passing many colleges were sending me acceptance letters but
the school, I wanted the most did not, but I still tried my best to stay positive. One day, I was in
the school computer lab. The room was dark and smelled like lemon because the teacher had a
scent machine on. Just then I got an email, and it was from the school of my dreams. My face felt
hot and red from nervousness and excitement. I opened it slowly expecting good new but once I
opened it my face turned upside down the email read, “After careful review of your application,
we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you admission.” Reading those words
shocked me I raised my hopes so high that I felt like a failure. Once again, I felt lost, with no one
to talk to.

Later I tried talking to a friend about how I felt in the art room, surrounded by dried paint
all over the place. The tabled covered in colorful blobs of paint. With a strong smell of fresh
paint. We sat down and I talk to him “I don’t know what to do.” He did not even look up from his
laptop to answer. The faint sound of dripping water coming from the old sink. I continued to
speak to him “I did not get into the school I wanted to. I feel like I just had a setback in my
college plans” He shrugged and answered “you will be fine. I got into that school, its no big
deal.” I just ignored him for the rest of the day. I always listen to his problems and when I tell
him mines it seems like he does not care.

That night, lying on my bed with all the lights off. The only light being from my phone. I
looked through the acceptance letters from other schools. The silence is so loud in the room. I
searched up online all the schools that accepted me and read how their film program is. My eyes
grew tired but as I was scrolling, I landed on City College. So, I decided to read about its film
program. Maybe because I was tired, but this school clicked for me I continued to read about the
school. That small spark gave me hope again that I can go to college. The next day, I told my
college counselor about my decision, he encouraged me, saying he himself was an alumni from
the college, and that the college was worth it.

Now sitting in my first college classroom, I can still feel the weight of this long journey,
many unfamiliar faces around me. The room looked old, the wooden desk creaked beneath me,
and the walls felt plain and quiet, with only the professors voice filling the classroom. Despite
everything I went through I knew something inside of me changed. For years I believed college
wasn’t for me. But choosing this path proved to me that I am capable of more than I imagined.
College Has already changed the way I see myself. It’s not just a new chapter for me but a
stepping stool that will help lead me to grow as a filmmaker, and be able to turn my stories into a
reality.

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“My Own Path” by Nery Bonilla (Draft)

My Own Path
As I walk on campus for the first time, I felt a mix of nervousness and excitement tighten
in my chest. The September air is cool and could smell the city mixed with the grass of the
courtyard. The old timey gothic buildings loom overhead. As I climb the massive stairs of
Shepard Hall all the way to the third floor. My shoes squeaked on the steps. I held onto the
wooden railing, which felt cold and rough under my hand. Inside, the hallway was quiet except
for the sound of people talking inside classrooms, and shoes tapping on the floor. While, walking
to my first class I think to myself how crazy it is that I am in college now, since for the longest
college was not one of my options for after high school.

As I walk to my first college class, I think to myself a few years ago in the beginning of
junior year of high school. The school hall filled with strong smells, and shiny clean floors. As I
enter my class called Career Exploration my teacher starts to talk about college and how we are
gonna apply to college next year. I was lucky enough to have 2 of my friends in my class. My
friends talked about college and what colleges they wanted to attend. When they turned to me,
they asked “Nery, what college do you want to go to,” I stare at them not really knowing what to
say. Up to that point college was not on my list. So, I just said “Im not going to college”, they
continue to ask why. At that point I did not even know why I did not want to attend college. After
thinking a little more, it came to me the reason I did not want to go to college was because my
older siblings did not so I thought I can do the same. Also, my grades were not the best so I may
not even get into college.

A few months later I’m talking to one of my friends named Rayan. We were in the school
weight room, the air thick with a sharp smell of rubber mats and sweat, and the loudspeaker
blasting music. Rayan started to talk about college again; I tried to act interested in the
conversation. But I was not sure if I wanted to talk about it. Finally, he asked me again “Why
don’t you want to go to college?” I shrugged and said, “because my siblings didn’t.” He
continued to ask questions. “Okay, but what have your siblings done since high school?” I felt
my throat tighten. “Nothing, they haven’t really done much.” Deep down I knew college was
something I once wanted. But after seeing neither my brother nor sister go, I gave up on that
dream. Their path felt like the only one I could follow since I had no other examples. Those
words Rayan said made me think more and helped me realize that I could be different and that
College could be for me.

That summer before my senior year I still felt lost. I tried to have fun with my friends and
family, but my mind kept drifting to dark thoughts of my future. To distract myself from these
thoughts I started to write down stories. I always liked making up stories in my head but never
had really written them down. As the days passed, I had also found a new love for filmmaking.
This is when my old dreams of becoming a filmmaker came back to life. I sorta gave up on it
thinking it could never become a reality, but now it feels real. Because of this I started to look up
colleges that offered film programs. For the first time I wanted something so bad, my passion for
filmmaking gave me what I needed to apply to college.

So, I started when it was time to apply to colleges during senior year I set my eyes onto
one college. I started to work harder in school and I also started writing more movie scripts. As
time kept passing many colleges were sending me acceptance letters but the school, I wanted the
most did not, but I still tried my best to stay positive. One day, I was in the school computer lab.
The room was dark and smelled like lemon because the teacher had a scent machine on. Just then
I got an email and it was from the school of my dreams. My face felt hot and red from
nervousness and excitement. I opened it slowly expecting good new but once I opened it my
face turned upside down the email read, “After careful review of your application, we regret to
inform you that we are unable to offer you admission.” Reading those words shocked me I raised
my hopes so high that I felt like a failure. Once again, I felt lost, with no one to talk to.

Later I tried talking to a friend about how I felt, but he did not get it. We walked into the
art room. The floor was dirty with dried paint all over the place. The tabled covered in colorful
blobs of paint. With a strong smell of fresh paint. We sat down and I talk to him “I don’t know
what to do. Looking at him while his eyes are taped to his laptop. The faint sound of dripping
water coming from the old sink. I continued to speak to him “I didn’t get into the school I wanted
to. I feel like I just had a setback in my college plans” He shrugged and answered “you’ll be fine.
I got into that school, its no big deal.” I just ignored him for the rest of the day. I always listen to
his problems and when I tell him mines it seems like he doesn’t care.

Later, I was lying on my soft bed with all the lights turned off. The only light being from
my phone. I looked through the acceptance letters from other schools. The silence is so loud in
the room. I searched up online all the schools that accepted me and read how their film program
is. My eyes grew tired but as I was scrolling, I landed on City College. So, I decided to read
about its film program. Maybe because I was tired, but this school clicked for me I continued to
read about the school. That small spark gave me hope again that I can go to college. The next day
I talked to my college counselor I told him that I finally decided on a college he told me that he
was alumni of city college and that it was worth it.

Back to the first day of college I walked into a classroom full of many new faces. The
room looked old, as I sat down the old wooden desk squeaked. The walls had white paint. The
classroom was so quiet with only the professor speaking loud enough you could hear him
outside. Even though I was nervous because of this new chapter. I had taken a leap I once
thought would never be possible. For the longest time I thought I wasn’t going to attend college
and achieve my dreams. But, choosing to go to college was one of the best decisions I’ve made,
even if it may not seem like it right now. It changed how I viewed myself and showed that I am
more capable of more than I ever imagined.