Can someone pleas proofread my essay? The subject was a learning experience. Thanks, also if you can think of a better title please share.

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In the distance I heard my name being called, “name,” I swallowed my nerves and made my way across the stage. I accepted my paper diploma and paused for a picture. As I made my way back to my seat I felt relieved and happy, but at the same time sad because I knew this meant I would be leaving my friends and family soon. While I sat in my seat I thought back about my experiences, good and bad, in high school and everything that had delivered me here. I realized that what had brought me here was strong will, dedication, and perseverance to keep moving and reaching for my goals, all of which I learned from my father.
My so-called high school experience didn’t really start in ninth grade but instead in seventh. This was due to the fact that at the time we had no middle school to speak of, just two elementary schools and then the high school. I remember my first day there, everything seemed so new and the people so tall. I was scared out of my mind. With the passing of the weeks I started making new friends and really settling into my second home. At the same time I also saw myself start to slack off. I had always been one of those students who went straight home from school and immediately did their homework. Now I was lucky to have it done by nine. I never realized any of this, but was fortunate enough to have my loving sister bring it to my attention. However, at that time I would not of described her as loving. I thought she was wrong and that she had no right to be butting into my life. Of course in the end she was right, she was always right in the end.
When ninth grade finally did start, I noticed because that was the year the middle school opened. I was finally going to have a normal high school experience with no junior high kids running around. I say this like I would know what that felt like, I myself was one of those kids just the year before. With this new start I really wanted to do better and excel in school. After all this was the beginning of a four-year quest to get into a good college. I was really inspired by my sister to try my best after all she was starting college that same year. She had worked so hard and got everything she deserved which was a full scholarship to school. I so badly wanted to do the same, I even felt pressured to do the same if not better. Only at the time I was still going about my ways of not really caring about schoolwork. When the first progress reports came out, right there next to physical science was a 78, a big fat ugly C. I had never gotten a C on a progress report and I was dreading the idea of taking it home. When my mom first saw it she was very upset and all I could offer her in return were excuses. Eventually she got over it but only with my promise that the grade would come up. Of course that didn’t really wake me up, I still waited to do my homework right before bed and to study right before the test. After all it was just a progress report, it’s not like it was a report card. Only it wasn’t long before I did wake up and really see how I was ruining my potential for the future.
I remember waking up that September morning like it was any other day, except when I walked into the kitchen for breakfast I found my mom in a panic. She was baffled and really shook up. My father had had a stroke. She found him lying on the bathroom floor in front of the sink. He had been getting ready for work when it happened. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and truthfully I didn’t want to. As the ambulance took my dad to the hospital the bus took me to school. I went that entire day, I didn’t even tell anyone what had happened. I thought if I did anything out of the ordinary or actually said it, it would mean it was true. It meant I would have to come to the realization that my father was laying in the hospital and I didn’t even know if he was ok. I am very ashamed to say that the week he was in the hospital I never once went to see him. I was too self-absorbed with myself, my own feelings, that I couldn’t get the courage to go and see him. I am even more ashamed to say that I did, however, go to the county fair. I know I shouldn’t be ashamed to have fun because for the first time that week my mind was on something else besides my dad. I was so happy the day my dad came home.
With my home life temporarily in ruins I put my best effort into school. I was determined to do better, to do my best in school, so not to disappoint my dad again. At the end of the semester I came out of physical science with an 84, not honor roll, but considerably better than before. This was exactly what I needed to boost my self-esteem. Winter break was a sweet embrace, a much needed break for me. I finally had a chance to spend time with my dad, he was almost 100% better, and would even be returning to work in January. The past months he spent recovering really taught me something. Everyday from the day he returned from the hospital brought new difficulties yet he didn’t let them stop him. Instead he kept going and was determined to recover, anxious to get back to work. His perseverance and determination inspired me to be a better person and to do better, to do my best in school. I really learned a lot from my father even though the circumstances surrounding the reason were not what I would have preferred. Now, like my father, I was on a new track myself, him healing physically and me mentally and educationally. This was hard for me but with my newfound confidence and determination the second semester went much easier and smoother.
With tenth grade came new responsibilities and new goals for me. However, new concerns and problems accompanied these. It seemed my father was still sick and progressively getting worse. So now I was once again dealing with these problems and mixed emotions. Although I refused to let this affect my work, I knew my dad wouldn’t want that and I also knew that I had to keep going and keep up the hard work. Being my sophomore year I began to feel the urge to become involved in some extracurricular activities. It was already to late in the year to join anything for the fall so I decided to wait to the spring. Home life continued to worsen week by week, following the trend of my dad’s health. When spring finally did come I was ready to get involved in order to escape for a few extra hours a day. I found myself joining track, which would truly take my dedication if I wanted to contribute to the team and to myself. In the beginning I have to admit I hated it, I would dread the idea of going out there everyday to practice, but I knew I couldn’t quit. When I joined the team I was making a promise to be there and not to give in or walk away, I had to finish and to finish strong. I also continued to apply this concept to my schoolwork and to doing my best to help my dad get better. Every time I looked at him I would see the effect work was having on him, he was slowly decreasing more and more in health. I was also noticing how he was changing, little things about him were different, and his mind just wasn’t the same anymore. Yet he still got up everyday and would go to work because he felt he had to support his family; that took precedence over everything even his own health.
On the other hand, I have to say sophomore year really blew for me in some ways. There I was working my tail off to do the best I could in school yet it never seemed good enough. The disappointment of not even being nominated to become a member of the national honor society really got to me. It was kind of a slap in the face, I gave my all and it was insufficient. When I started to think about it, I couldn’t let this, of all things, bring me down, after all I would have another chance the next year to get in. So once again I was inspired to do better in school, to bring my grades higher, to study more. However, that would have to wait until next year because the summer was finally here.
The start of eleventh grade seemed to light a fire under me; I joined all these new clubs and even started cross-country. Now there is a true sport that requires perseverance. I had no idea how hard cross-country was until the first day of practice. Even worse, I was a few days late starting and my first run was right around five miles. After you experience something like that for the first time it really makes you want to quit. Only I knew I couldn’t give up and I made myself try harder and practiced more to improve my time. I wasn’t able to run the entire course without stopping until the end of the season, but when I did the feeling was sensational. This was exactly what I needed to pump me up for the remainder of the year. I would have to say that my year only got better from there. That spring I was very excited to be invited to join the national honor society and then get accepted. Now, all I had left was that one final year the most important one.
At the start of my senior year my father was still in and out of work and in and out of the doctor’s office. Of course he didn’t let this get him down, he refused to just lie there because that would mean giving in. As he struggled with this I struggled with a heavy course load, sports, club activities and the all important college applications. I only ended up applying to two schools, both of which I was accepted to. Now all that was left was to decide exactly where I wanted to go the next fall. Senior year flew by fast and before I knew it graduation was right around the corner. I couldn’t believe I was at this point in my life already, everything I had been through, and everything that had brought me to this point in my life was behind me. I had made it and I never once gave up or let anything bring me down and that was something I was truly proud of.
Suddenly I took a good look around, everyone was standing it was time to turn our tassels. As the silly string flew I thought to myself this is it, I made it, I am a high school graduate.