Angelica Garcia

Angelica Garcia
Mrs. Ferguson
English 71, Section 1438
Chapter One
Essay Assignment #1
10 Sept. 2014

Essay
As a student I have a fixed-mind set. I try to avoid situations where I know I will fail just because I’m scared to look dumb. I don’t want to feel like a failure so I rather just pass the task on to someone else who is capable of doing it. I used to believe I was great at math and it became my favorite subject. It was my favorite subject up until the fifth grade.
Before I entered fifth grade the school I was currently attending, Cielo Vista elementary School, asked me to take an advanced placement test to see if I was going to be in GATE classes for math. I didn’t score how they wanted me and placed me in an average class. I was bummed out the whole year I thought I was an excellent reader and great at math. I couldn’t understand how I could fail the test. I was so excited to be put into GATE classes. It was such a huge letdown. After I found out that I couldn’t be in GATE classes I stopped caring about math. My passion for it just left my body the minute I found out. I just remember a rush of embarrassment running through me. My face felt hot and I just wanted to cry.
Instead of practicing my math skills like I should have, I just left math alone. I would always do my math homework last because I didn’t see a point in doing it anymore. I thought if I left math alone I could pick a new subject, one that I was actually good at. I clanged on to English next. Since I was always getting such good scores on my vocabulary tests I thought this is it. This is my new favorite subject. English started to get a lot more complicated as the years went on. My writing wasn’t as impressive as the year before and my interest for it was going away. During my sophomore year of high school I noticed that my reading and writing skills were no longer above proficient but just merely average. During this time they were offering tutoring lessons and I had a choice. I had the choice of going in for extra help to regain my skills or to just sit back and let it hold me back. At first I thought that I didn’t need the extra help. I thought I learned enough about English and as long as I could read, write, and speak I was fine. After having a talk with my high school counselor he encouraged me to go in for just one day and see what it was like. I followed his advice and went to the tutoring. To my surprise I actually enjoyed it. I enjoyed being able to fully understand what was going on. I didn’t feel dumb or embarrassed asking for help. I felt like I had control in my grades and I felt confident. I continued going to tutoring for a year. I felt so proud and accomplished with English that I went and tried to regain my passion for math.
To this day I still feel uncomfortable approaching challenging tasks but I still go through with it. I’m not a big fan of admitting defeat so I try not to put myself in uneasy tasks. If I do manage to be in a challenging position I won’t just quit ill find a way through it. After all you can’t just avoid tough situations all your life at some point you have to face reality.