Experience is the source of knowledge whether they're bad or good. It gives us confidence, courage, and strength. It is how life teaches us to love and forgive each other. In fact, experience is the worst teacher because it gives us the test before presenting the lesson.…
Throughout my years of high school I have always strived for the best grades that I could attain, and they didn’t come easy. There were plenty of distractions that had driven me off course. Whether it was long hours at practice, volunteering for my community, or having a part-time job, I couldn’t let these activities hinder my grades. This purpose had sprung in me, to not only strive in my extracurricular activities, but also my schoolwork. Balancing both school and additional activities wasn’t a simple task. This led me to many sleepless nights, in which I had to tutor myself on certain topics I was struggling on. This ranged from my hardest subject, to studying extra hours on my hardest class, and even simple topics that I needed extra work…
School is place where I have met different people with different ways of culture and living. I have found it interesting meeting new people that don’t share the same beliefs as me because I get to know more about where they came from and what their beliefs are.…
Back in 2012 I was accepted into Early college academy at south-ridge (ECAS). This school is particularly special because it allows high school students to take dual credit courses in a community college. Obtaining high grades in my classes while also being required to do my best was something I always had trouble with. I was the the type of person who didn't mind a 70 when it came to report cards, until I found out colleges didn't like students with low grades or at least with low performance like me. My freshman year I made the decision to improve my grades and become a better student.…
My junior year in high school I took two classes from teachers who gave immense amounts of work on difficult material. The classes were Honors Pre-Calculus and Advanced Biological Studies II. After a day at school and a demanding golf practice until dark, it was time to start my homework. By then I was already exhausted, but I still had hours of homework ahead of me. Most schools nights I would not be able to start my hefty pile of homework until 8 o'clock. Many nights the strenuous assignments given in Honors Pre-calculus and Advanced Biological Studies II kept me awake late into the night, even as late as 4 am. It was difficult struggling to stay awake and complete my strenuous workload after an entire day of activity. A full night of sleep…
Looking back to middle school I remember the fear I had for someday having to go to high school. My teachers always told me how different and harder it would be when I went. My older sister was in 9th grade at the time and I wanted ti be with her when I went. But the high school she was at was different from the one all my friends were going. I always had a hard time making decisions and now I had to choose between going to a school with my friends or going to a school that would help me prepare for the future. So I decided I would just apply to my sisters school to see if I got accepted, going into the interview I wasn't really scared because it didn't matter to me, I just thought whatever happens, happens. Surprisingly I got accepted and…
Walking into my honors English class my eleventh grade year, I felt as if it would be a breeze. Thinking back to the previous year to when I constantly maintained an “A+” and without hesitation I knew that any test, quiz, or writing prompt I was destined for an “A.” It was until now sobbing in a big puddle of salty water I knew for a fact I was doomed. Although I had never really thought into what karma was and what it really meant. It was my eleventh grade year in high school it had finally caught up to me.…
Starting your freshman year of college is a really, really terrifying moment. You go from being in a place where you are totally comfortable to being in a new place full of new people you have yet to get to know. And for every single freshman, it’s especially harder for any number of personal reasons. When I first got to Williams I often wondered if I really belonged here at all—was I smart enough, talented enough, educated enough? As I got closer to my JAs and my entrymates, I began to overcome my insecurity and learned that I could and did belong at Williams. I want to be a JA because I want to give a group of freshman the same support and confidence that my JAs instilled in me. I want to be able to work with a group of my peers and my…
When I was in middle school I would always do my homework every day and keep my average high, but know i'm going down on my average as soon as I went into high school. When I started high school I made myself a promise. I told myself the same thing I told myself in middle school “I will do my best and do my homework all week”, but that didn't happen. It was already the last week of the first 9 weeks, and I was already failing my english and reading class. I was failing english because I didn't do the SAQ’s ( Short Answer Question) during class or for homework. I was failing my reading class because I didn't do my homework…
During my current four years of high school, I have come to a conclusion that life is hard and the decisions you make are very important. This is my last year of high school and I’m the first one to graduate from my family. My grandmother tends to tell me that I don’t need college just a simple 7 month course of medical assistant or dentist assistant and not waste any more money. I’m lost, I wish people could help me out and tried to guide me in the direction of the right decision but is my life and choices. There has been times that my grandmother has told me that I am not going to be somebody in the future.…
Today was the day. Packed to the point of bursting open with new notebooks, folders, pens, pencils, and textbooks, he readied me for school. Instead of bouncing around as rambunctious young boys do, he trudged slowly in a peculiar meter of half-steps toward the doorway. He was living a new life in a new school that was filled with people who might as well have been aliens to him.…
I was the kind of guy who always strove in order to get the highest grades but yet hadn’t decided what to do in the future. I wasn’t worried, I knew someday I would find something in what I was good at. I got to live with that thought for some time until I got to attend middle school, where I stopped worrying about my grades and managed only to pass the subjects. I spent most of my time sleeping due to the frustration of not knowing what to do in the future. Most of my middle school experience was tasteless. I hadn’t friends at all, and teachers used to discourage their students about their future. “You're not going to college, you’ll not be able to do it because you’re poor” used to say, Mrs. Vazquez, the math teacher who instead of giving her class, talked on how much his son had accomplished in college and how we would not be able to attend. That was about to change.…
During my freshman year of high school I received a letter in the mail. This letter was an invitation to play basketball in Australia, with other boys and girls of my age. The date was September 13, 2011. The letter stated that we would be leaving June 1, of 2012. Of course I wanted to go as soon as I read the letter, but my family was more curious about the trip. We did some research and figured out everything that would be offered on this trip. In my research I read of playing Australian basketball games, snorkeling, swimming in the ocean, surfing, and spending three days on Tangalooma Island. This was enough to convince my family that it would indeed be a fun trip for me to attend.…
This affected me not only academically but socially and athletically. The stress of the work isolated me from my peers and this caused them to complain to me in which I was pressured to work extra hard to complete my studies to make time for them. In addition to the weight of trying to pass and maintain a social life, I had to go to extensive hours of after school practices for my school’s water polo team. As part of the team, they relied on me to play my part and it made me feel burdened to practice harder to make up for my lack of good grades. Because of my naivety on how to balance a high school life, my anxiety was beginning to build. The next semester the pace got faster and the workload doubled. I was horrified with myself that I couldn’t catch up. I found all my classmates around me struggling as well but it felt like I got the brunt of it. It came to a point—my tipping point—when I was depressed and at that moment, I gave up. I thought, “If I can’t even pick up my grade then there’s no point in trying.” By then, it was rounding the end of the school year. My parents were breathing down my neck and treated me harshly to get my grades up but I…
Freshman year of high school was an exciting and nerve wrecking time. The first week of school I stuck close to my friend from middle school. We had hung out over the summer nonstop and were extremely close. That first week we did not see each other much during the school day. All our classes seemed to be different except our lunch periods. This friend was someone I trusted and let influence me, for better or worse.…