Personal Statement Prompt:
Indicate a person that has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
Throughout my life, several people have had a significant influence on me. However, the one that sticks out the most is a former youth pastor. His name is Jason Underwood, and I have known him for quite a while. He was my youth pastor from the time I was in 7th grade, until the end of my sophomore year.
He constantly encouraged me to grow, and do more than what was expected of me. Jason believed I could make a difference in the world, and that the change I’d make would be something lasting. I could confide in him my troubles and he would give me advice that made sense to me. He could support me like a parent, yet I could hang out with him like any of my friends.
When Jason announced that he would be leaving the church, it greatly affected me. I still remember that Sunday as if it were yesterday, especially his statement: it wasn’t that he was looking to leave; just he had served his purpose with us. When he first came to our church seven years ago the youth group consisted of about 15 people. The church he’d be moving to was in Kentucky, and the youth group didn’t have a youth pastor and on a good day, had 10 kids show up. Jason was needed there. I felt like I needed him too, in truth, I had already reaped my rewards from him. I no longer needed Jason as much as that youth group in Kentucky did.
I remember crying a lot, and spending the six weeks I had left with the Underwoods carefully. I remember being confused about what was happening and what I was supposed to do. I didn’t know what to do, or who I was even supposed to be. Jason not being there was a big change, a change not even Jason wanted to make. I didn’t realize it at the time, but over the summer, as we went to camp without Jason, and grew closer without him, I became one of the leaders of our youth group, our little family.
I have changed a lot since that morning when Jason made the announcement. I stand on my own more, even though I still have people on whom I can depend, and lean on whenever I’m in need. My faith has been all over the place, but through it all I’ve become a better person. With his absence, I learned that though Jason was a positive influence on my life, and I could find a strong source of stability in him, I was too comfortable. I didn’t try to stretch myself, or do anything too much out of the ordinary because I knew he would help me make it okay. Without that extra source of stability, I was forced to grow and go outside of my comfort zone. When trouble comes along, or simply something that trips me up, where I would normally have to stop, and step back from life for a while, I now just keep going. It’s comforting to have Jason back within reach, and in my life, but he isn’t my main source of stability.
