College Admissions Essay: Math In High School

My educational past has had its good and bad days. In early grades school was easy and school was enjoyable. Somewhere along the line I lost my talent and things went south quickly. For some reason I kept telling myself studying wasn’t necessary because of how well I did in the past. In the sixth grade we had our first math test. I figured why study, I’m smart, all the answers will come right to me. I start the test and immediately start struggling. I couldn’t remember anything and of course when I got it back, it was an F. After receiving that F, I realized things have changed and I must put forth much more effort. Math for me was never the same after that moment. I started struggling with memorizing the equations and my grade suffered. One thing I needed to realize was I didn’t have all the knowledge. In the past, my education has been a little rocky.

I've learned to become more attentive and conscientious of my weaknesses. I use my strength of persistence and diligence to resolve problems I find to be arduous. Two years ago, I was not meticulous, but now I've learned that every detail counts. It is not only about working hard, but it's also about working smart. It's about acknowledging my weaknesses and toiling until they are no longer my weaknesses. Math homework was never at the top of my priority list, but after identifying that as an obstacle in my success, I immediately altered the way I approached it. Math homework routinely became the first task I set out to finish when I arrived home. If there were extra assignments, I always finished them. Receiving a test that's covered with red marks, meant that I needed to understand what I did wrong. I started reaching out to my teachers and peers for their help and support. We created catchy chants for topics like Domain and Range. Overall, I would not have passed if I looked at my failure as a defeat rather than a delay and my goal as an outcome rather than a learning

When it comes to STEM, the things that STEMulate my mind are the things that have to do with science and math. I really like the science part of STEM because it leaves me to explore, and I get to work hands on pretty much all of the time. I like the math portion of STEM because there really isn’t a time in my math class where we stop learning, and the effect of that is that I never stop thinking and I love it when I don’t stop thinking. I honestly enjoy working with the people at my tables in math and science class to build and solve everything, it gives me a chance to learn more about them and myself. I love my team members and even though I am a little “harsh” when it comes to working on and completing projects at times, I love how much I learn from and about them, when I

Throughout my life I have always been called a bright person, a reader, and an Einstein. When I was younger, I read many picture books such as Dr. Seuss and Dragon Tales and tried reading them to my younger siblings but they wouldn't cooperate. I was extremely fascinated about history and loved to play around if I was in that time period. For example, I pretended to be President Washington marching along the kitchen and even though my family didn't know much about him as they were from Colombia, they said I would make an amazing president one day. In elementary school I worked ahead of the other children and was made fun of for that but I didn’t care. Before middle I took a test that put me in an advanced math class so I can work at a much faster pass.Trust me, it was not as bad as I thought it would be so in my three years I worked hard and helped others understand the concepts of what we are learning in

During the end of my 1st semester of sophomore year, I felt as if everything was falling apart. It was my low point throughout my high school career, and I just received my grades for the current quarter of classes. I will be honest; it was a whopping grade point average of about 2.6. Once, I saw this. I did not lose it as much as others would have. Instead, I looked at this and said to myself, “what can I do differently moving forward.” The second semester started, and I know I had to do better whatever the challenges that I face this time around: and so I did. I was able to

From the beginning of freshman year up to senior year I have faced many challenges that have been life changing. One of the most important decisions I have made in my life was when I returned to the United States from Mexico my sophomore year. On my return I had to take all the core classes from freshman year and sophomore year together to be able to graduate on my initial assigned year. I will never forget the experience of having to take algebra and geometry together the same year.

It’s 3 a.m. I’ve struggled for the last hour to go to sleep. I am turning and tossing around my bed unable to shut my brain off. Why? Because i am stressed about tomorrow. However, there is something i must say. The real truth about tomorrow.

I had always thought of myself as a pretty exceptional student throughout my schooling. I showed up with my work done and I got good grades, but of course, there was always that one exception. Math was the subject that consistently kept my GPA from becoming a 4.0. Even with my frustrations I never gave up… until my senior year of high school. Precalculus was the most confusing class I had ever come across. After two weeks, I found myself breaking into tears trying to do the homework. I dropped precalculus with a sick feeling in my stomach. I spent the rest of the day in a slump, dreading the thought of telling my mother what I had done.

Many times my efforts were not positively reflected through my grades. These disappointments remind me that I must take a step back when I become overwhelmed, and remember that I am equipped with the right work ethic, attitude, and determination to handle new challenges. Before the start of most school days, I spent time with teachers reviewing the previous night’s homework that I persistently fumbled through. Countless hours were spent watching tutorials and reinforcing class notes with my dad. Like mastering manual driving, I determinedly redirected focus towards what I knew I could achieve in math, instead of fearing the ride to get there. By focusing on my strengths, I was able to push myself daily, and strengthen skills to improve my quarter grades, earn an A on my semester exam, and celebrate these

In high school the 8th grade I started having trouble with math and math has been a trouble for me every since. I am in college now and I did not get the correct help I needed. I am in college and having more trouble in higher college math , the most trouble math I had was Algebra. Algebra was so badly confusing that I my mind would be blank for hours at a time . I hated going to math class because I could never understand what Mr.Smith was saying an get it because it was already hard for me to learn with my ADHD and

At age 3, my parents divorced and I became an anchor for my family’s sanity. I had to become strong and successful with my every action. Like many typical Asian-American families, I was given high standards with every choice I made, especially with grades. With a single parent, it becomes more difficult to reach out for extracurricular activities, so I pushed myself to participate in AVID during my middle school years, providing me with a stronger academic backbone moving forward in the education system. Even then, while I am the youngest of two daughters, upon entering High School, my expectations were always set higher. My sister has slight learning disabilities, so my family almost depended on me as if I was their only hope. Nevertheless, this environment of expectations taught me to never give up, leading me to strive for my best. I continued helping my family.

Going back to school is a major decision that I’ve made. I have given it plenty of thoughts, do some research about the schools and soul searching. I took a great deal of consideration to my age and understand the impact it will do with my life, my family’s life. I list down the sacrifices I need to sort out to give my 100 percent to pull through this course. I choose to be a nurse not for a job, but more of a calling. I’ve worked in different jobs, but the hunger of being a nurse is always there. Now I’m currently studying “Access to Nursing” to give myself the required points that I need to proceed to study at your university

Class of 2017, it gives me great honor to be here alongside you all on this joyous day to receive the product of all our suffering. It astonishes me on how fast all the time went by. Seems like only yesterday I walked into the wrong classroom as a confused freshman. That yesterday was four years ago. The rush of time during these years has worried me. If time seems to be going so fast during high school, how will the rest of our years pass? Will they pass by slowly or quickly? For most people, “the trouble is you think you have time” (Buddha).

It was hard finding my passion growing up with family of two very business oriented parents, a brother about to finish medical school, and a sister getting her PhD in Public Health. From the start of high school I was always told I needed to be a business, pre-med, or pre-law major to make any money in life. Everyone in my family perceived success as a monetary value, the higher your salary the higher your happiness. However, I was never able to wrap my head all the way around the idea. It seemed right on the surface but as I progressed throughout high school taking classes like accounting, AP biology, and AP government I found myself hating the courses. Even if jobs in fields related to these subjects were the ones that made you money in the real world, why should I be miserable taking classes like this my entire college career to get a job I would probably hate my

Math without a doubt must be the most significant challenge I have ever faced. Not my juvenile delinquency which led to a felony charge, not that I was born and raised in the underserved communities, and surely not the tumultuous and violent confines of my home and neighborhood. Mathematics singlehandedly suppressed my interest in school and anything beyond simple arithmetic felt like I was deciphering hieroglyphs. Despite having had a keen interest for cyber security and web development, I failed at math. High school made me resent it even more, but I got by through a combination of forced memorization and sympathy from my teachers.