Personal Narrative: My Progress In My Academics

Throughout life you progress. Even if you fall and mess up you still live and learn. When I first came to the Wight Foundation I thought that I was the best I could be in my academics. However being in class and seeing others strive for greatness made me realize I could do more, and I did. I have improved greatly since the beginning of STEP physically and mentally.

My work from the beginning of STEP to now has drastically changed especially in my writing. I never enjoyed writing essays because I did not do well with writing under pressure. After completing my essay, I felt confident about what I produced. However ,when my essay was handed back, it was noted that I lacked vocabulary, figurative language and my sentence structure was poor. After being in class, I have improved on my essay writing skills. I used more vocabulary terms than I usually would in my essays, had better sentence structure, and completed the entire essay with time to spare to check it over. In addition I learned that i have been using seven deadly writing sins in my writing. Continuously writing and having my peers edit my work helped me eliminated those sins from my writing. When school starts again, I will be prepared to write a timed essay with the new skills I have attained.

Not only has my writing improved, but my time
management as well. Given a project for school, I would start it right away. My time would be so focused on one project, that I did not have time to complete any other homework. In the end I would always get it done, but hand in the assignment with bags under my eyes. Starting the Wight Foundation I knew I had to improve my skills. I set times for myself to complete the homework so that there was enough time to complete other work. At Williston Northampton School, our schedules were packed with activities, but we always had enough time in study hall to complete our homework. Coming back to New jersey, I have taken those habits with me sparing me an extra 3 hours to have my own free time instead of homework.

The STEP program has benefitted my academic skills but also my look on the world.
Through class lesson I have learned new things from my classmates, from newspapers and from my teachers. I have learned that we as a nation are too quick to believe when something is right or wrong without taking the accounts into consideration. With this, I have learned to question the details and being more involved to avoid blindly answering. My classmates have taught me that we can all help each other improve. I have examined students in the Wight Foundation helping one another out so we can all excel. There is always room for growth even when you think you are your
best.

Being in the Wight Foundation has impacted me tremendously. In addition to having better academic skills, I have changed as a person. I look at the world more openly now then I would before realizing that the world is competitive. With this experience, I can enhance my techniques to help better prepare me for the world. In STEP you are not promised a permanent spot, you have to work hard to retain the opportunity. Benjamin Franklin once said, “ Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”