Graduation Speech - Original Writing

I closed my eyes in disbelief. I refreshed the page. I thought Ms. Platt had attached another student’s rubric to my essay. I wanted the nightmare to end. Not only did I not receive an “A” or a “B,” but a “C-.” I earned a seventy percent. My eyes watered, and I began to feel nauseous. I felt as if I failed myself and my family. This grade was not supposed to be possible. In the words of Grendel, it was an accident. But unfortunately, it was not. At that moment, I had to accept, even if I did not want to, that I, for once, did not reach my high goals or had to surrender my unrealistic view of myself. I had erred, like all humans do, and learned that I was not perfect and that I could fail to reach my standards. At that moment, I realized that I wasn’t superhuman but human, and this was something challenging for me to cope with at the time. However, in discovering my ability to fail, my perception of myself had been revolutionized.

When I sat down, removed my calculator, three number two pencils, and my admission ticket, I started to relax more and more. As the supervisor of the classroom handed out the book of questions along with the answer sheet, I thought to myself, “what if I get a bad score like before?” I knew I wasn’t the best test taker, but I just had to keep telling myself to try my hardest and just see how it goes. As the supervisor said “you have 45 minutes to complete this section of the test, you may start,” I gripped the pencil with my hand, and began to read the question and fill in the best answer of four options.

I hate writing tests! It’s as simple as that. I hate the feel of a rough pen on my soft, delicate hands, which have vanquished after putting up a hard fight. I hate my brain desperately struggling to recollect information, from the inadequate study period from the previous night. Most of all, I hate the collecting of the results of an inevitable failure, doomed to face me at the end. Looking back at this picture, of me writing that unbearable test, I remember. I remember a feeling reassembling itself to me in tiny fragments, one by one, and for a brief moment, so microscopic it cannot be measured in time, my heart skips a beat. Then, and then alone I am brought back to that room, to that desk, to that test, and all I feel is hate.

It is a warm fall day and I’m getting ready to take the ACT’s. The time is six forty-five am and I am just waking up to get ready for the test. The very first thing I do to get ready is shower, and once I’m done I put on sweatpants and a t-shirts so that way I’m relaxed. I eat a big breakfast so that way I don’t get as hungry throughout the day. I then continue by getting in my car and drive to the school to take the test. I then proceed to check in, and they check me in a then direct me to the classroom in which I will be taking my test. I’m now in my seat waiting to be given the test and I know that I am ready for the test because I have prepared. There are many steps a person can take to successfully prepare him or herself for standardized

One late night in early June, as the moon rose from the ground and time slowly progressed, I sat at my desk binge studying for my upcoming ACT the next morning as well as trying not to pass out from mental exhaustion. My head felt heavy trying to understand math and grammar aspects that haven’t been taught to me since my eighth grade year of junior high and freshman year in high school. Soon enough, my motivation for trying to reconnect my old knowledge with my new lessened my ability to keep my eyes opened and I eventually decided my body needed to rest for the following day.

That morning has the cast of doubt and restlessness which was because, you could see that students crammed that weekend. The exam went to last fours so, therefore, it is expected. The air was chilly as we entered the large red auditorium. While I was going on, I told myself constantly "Take a deep breath, focus, and remember, even if you do not score a three today, either way, this is great practice for college." According to the Advance Placement rules for testing, we started promptly at 8 a.m.. Dr. Grayson read out the rules and regulations for the exam which, is information we all heard before. She wished us good luck. We do need it to complete this

After that week…It was time to start testing. I wasn’t neverous anymore, I knew that studying would pay off. I really needed to pass those two test. When I got to my classroom, I had to sidt down fast. My teacher Ms. Givens told us what we needed to do. When everyone got done the testing began!

During that time I attended DeBakey High School, I enrolled myself in a course known as Pre-AP Integrated Physics and Chemistry. As a graduate with all A’s and B’s straight out of middle school, I felt like classes at high school would be a breeze. Unfortunately, this mindset would toss me into an abyss of failure. I failed to take into consideration that this school abided as one of the top high schools in Houston. In the middle of the first week, the teacher had slammed the entire class with a rigorous quiz. My body shook with discomfort. My hands trembled with fear. My eyes wandered with uneasiness. At this point, I knew the outcome of this gruesome quiz was soon to end with my defeat. After receiving my disgusting letter grade on this excruciating quiz, I felt an immediate sense of urgency rush through my spine. Everyone in the

As I concentrated back on the x-symbol, my thoughts on that particular day became nothing but nostalgia sealed deep inside my memories, still I began to rethink about myself. In spite of that phenomenon, I cannot constantly and truly expect to do well in school, or life in general, because there will always be obstacles that will prevent me from succeeding. However, I have learned that there will always be people who will judge me based upon their observations, but they will never be able to grasp my true character and intelligence. The placement test may have just been only a test for some, but it was a significant part of my academic career that allowed me to be where I am today. With two minutes to spare, I lifted my pencil and wrote my

Going to college, is one of the most stressful phases of someone’s life, this can be seen in any college student, whether it's their first or last year, as a college student. And one of the largest contributors to the stress is getting stellar grades. Over the course of the past three months, I have been continuously stressed about getting good grades and or simply just maintaining them. Maintaining and getting good grades is stressful due to these marks being able to determine my progression in school, as well as the pace I manage to reach my educational goal. There are several examples that show stressful this can be for me.

When you take a test there are many factors that play a part in how you are going to perform or how you will react once you feel the pressure of the test itself. In this paper im going to talk about ways that Kristen can cope with her issues of “freaking out”, “going blank” or when the information “doesn’t stick” when she needs to recall it for a test. I’m going to try and give some tips and pointers for Kristen to use so that she can deal with these issues that she experiences when she is taking tests.

You’ve just begun your junior year of high school, following your relatively effortless previous two years at Forest Hills Northern. You were filled with excitement and anticipation alike all of your other peers. Between taking AP biology, your favorite sect of science, AP language and composition, one of your favorite hobbies of writing, the SAT which you’ve prepared for, and being an upperclassman. The year had potential to be an amazing year.

It was the day of the English and Math entrance exams, and I was ecstatic. I take pride in my intelligence and was ready to put my knowledge to the test. I had gotten a late start to the day, so I had about 30 minutes to get ready before I had to leave for GCIT. I take forever to get myself ready, so I used every second I could. I usually don’t eat breakfast, so I didn’t think twice about leaving the house without any food or water in my system.

“When you teach Kindergarten you need stock in pencils, glue sticks, expo markers and bandaids.” (Hollenbaugh) I observed Mrs. Hollenbaugh’s kindergarten class for two different days. The first day I went was more based on assignments the students had and they did more reading. The next day was more for fun, plus they had specials. At this point the “big” kids, as they would say, were having Istep so we had to whisper in the morning which was great to see the kids be able to transition with the circumstances. Hollenbaugh had many ways to work around this and backup plans already set to do incase they needed them.

Every morning I would wake up to hearing my mother cleaning up around the house and the smell of breakfast in the air. This morning in particular I heard nothing at all which I found very strange. I got up and checked on my little sister and I turn on the television like I usually do, but this time I didn’t. My mother would always come on our end of the house and see if we were up, but nothing not even a good morning. This is when I knew something was wrong, I had to face to music and see what I feared the most.