My Expectations At Susquehanna University

Growing up, I’d always been expected to do well in school. Which isn’t out of the ordinary, every parent wants their child to be successful and have a beneficial career. So, since good grades were what my parents expected that’s what I got. All throughout elementary, I strived to do my absolute best in every subject. At my sixth grade graduation I was awarded the Presidential Award for Academic Achievement, in my junior high years I did well as well. My eighth-grade year I achieved my goal of obtaining a 4.0 G.p.a. The first year of high school was nerve-racking but I still managed to keep my grades up. However, Sophomore year was definitely a bump in the road for me. In all my ten years of being in school (including head start and kindergarten)

Througout my academic career, I have learned as much about myself as I have learned in school, whether it be from high school, to community college, and my journey that lead me to Arizona State University. I can honestly say as my parents did, that I wish I would’ve tried harder in high school. I scraped by taking the easiest classes possible and choosing to take the easy way out. Looking at my transcript makes me cringe, because I know that I am capable of so much more. I wish that I would’ve taken the honor classes and tried so that I would’ve been able to apply to a college other than a community college. My time at Mohave Community College was a significant improvement from my experience in high school. Not only did I graduate with near honors (3.49), I had made the Dean’s list and Honors List for three out of my four semesters, the first time this had happened since middle school. I had never felt more motivated and focused in my life. I was taking 16 credits and prospering and had a balance of work, school, and a social life. I had never felt more proud of my self in my life. As I sit here and write this paper, I question my time here at ASU as I try to plan the nex chapter of my life. I wonder where I am supposed to go and what I am supposed to do.School for the first time had become a priority, however, it began to consume my life. I would spend hours and hours on end doing homework and studying, and although there seems to be nothing wrong with this, I wouldn’t go

I constantly have people asking me why I try so hard in school, why I take hard classes, or why I took a hard schedule for my senior year of high school. A lot of my classmates call me crazy for being such a “try hard,” and they tell me I should have taken an easy senior year. I always just joke back, “I don’t know, maybe I’m just a nerd,” and then we all chuckle and move on to talk about fantasy football or something. I do not take hard classes because I think it is fun staying up till two in the morning a couple nights a week doing homework. I have a 4.0+ GPA and score a 28 on my ACT because I stay up until two in the morning doing homework. I stay up until two in the morning doing homework because I have a dream to get accepted to Colorado State University and to major in biomedical and mechanical engineering. I also have a dream to leave this world a better place than it was the day I came into it. I want to make an impact on the people around me, and I can do that through my work as an engineer. The first step to accomplishing this dream is to get accepted into

As a first generation student, academic promise hasn’t always been a focus of mine until my high school years. Coming from a family where the only post-high school education is whatever training you receive at work, it is hard to relate when the possibility of university is so far away. Four years after high school, I have not only worked full time but also received my associates degree from my hometown community college. That is all great thanks to the family that have raised me, and taught me that hard work is the only work capable of doing. My parents never had the opportunity to attend college, so they taught me what they knew in life instead; where manners are always required, hard work is mandatory, and when finished with that work; you

During my sophomore year, I had gotten into the wrong crowd. I started hanging out with a group of people that I thought I could rely on and trust but in the end they just brought me down. I started struggling in my classes, which caused my grades to fall. School wasn’t a concern for me and my parents were watching me go downhill. They would ask me what was happening when I would bring home my grade card or look at progress book, because I normally told them that I was doing great. My mother mostly had realized that my friends were not who I should be hanging around because they was not taking me down a good path. On September 12, 2013 was my Sophomore homecoming. My friends and I ended up going out for dinner and then we all headed to the dance. The dance wasn’t very exciting so we all thought that we would just head to Abby’s house. We ended up leaving Abby’s house and staying out all night in town, getting ourselves into things we shouldn’t have. Toward the end of my Sophomore year I started to fade away from that group and focused more on my schooling. I ended up getting my grades up too at least C’s. The following years I had to really push myself to get my GPA back to where I wanted it. Graduating high school I had a 2.9 GPA and at the end of my first semester of college, I had a 3.6. This just shows that hard work pays off and if you push yourself hard enough you can accomplish anything. This semester I plan on raising my GPA to at least a 3.7. If I didn’t have the support I did and still have today, I would have never been where I am right now. I am so thankful to have my parents and even my grandparents in my life. Starting my junior year, going into softball, from the first game to the last, my support system was at every game. This really impacted my life knowing that my grandparents would drive anywhere just to watch a game of ball for an hour or two. It’s not just sports it’s anything that I have that

To be fair my parents did give me fairly loose reigns in high school but the ability to choose for myself whether or not to succeed is both daunting and exhilarating. I feel confident that I will make the choice to succeed. When looking at the expectations of each individual professor I was actually a little underwhelmed. I was honestly surprised at how little the professors asked of us. When I looked at my combined workload from all my classes this semester I understood why college could be so difficult. Although individually the professors don’t ask the world of you, the number of classes you have makes the amount of work you do increase considerably. I feel that I will have to put in more work than I had to in high school. I also feel confident in my ability to do

I was motivated to get into college and to not let anything stand in my way. When the problems kept coming up and they were only going to end in a bad way I just thought of college and how it is going to change my life forever. I thought about how they wouldn’t want someone who has a history of violence and barely being in school. They would want someone who can get along well with others and someone they can count on to be at school and be on time. When I was accepted into Kansas City Community College it was a feeling that words could not even begin to describe. It felt like it was a fresh new to start to have a better life and to correct my wrongs in the past. Going to college has made me a better person and to strive to do better in school and to be a better person than I was

In the beginning of high school, my teachers always showed me the easy way out, but when entering college, I realize that the easy way is not the best way. To survive college, I have to discard all that I was taught in high school; like how professors wouldn’t care or notice me in class, and how strict orders will be given. I know that I have to remember that college is not as easy as highs school, but more necessary a contributive. The benefit of college is that in the future, I am more eligible to receive a career rather than a job with the abundant amount my parents spent on my classes. Throughout the little times I've spent in college, I notice how much of a help all my professors are, and the work they put in for my classmates and me to

I am my biggest competitor and my biggest critic. Fortunately, my parents took care to be positive examples of using self criticism as a motivation and not a form of self destruction. My parents’ positive example has turned a potentially crippling habit into a naturally occurring instinct that comforts me on a daily basis. It is so rewarding to know that I can try a new experience, such as taking online courses through BYU- Hawaii, and when faced with difficulties I don't breakdown with doubt. My motivation is self improvement and as long as I'm learning, and putting in my best effort then I haven't failed. I enjoy challenging myself, and believe me that attempting college eleven years after my high school graduation is a challenge. I have quite a bit working against me, for example, being an older student than the traditional students, and general embarrassment of not even having general credits completed, but I don't see my delayed path as a setback. My motivation is due to my elevated work ethic, and the fact that I’m not taking classes because it's expected of me as the next step in my life, but because I was

Growing up I had feared the responsibility of my younger brother, but now all I wanted was that responsibility. It was then that I realized what was happening. The cycle was changing; it still would try to pull me away from college, but it did it differently. That terrible year may have been the revelation I needed. I researched scholarships every night, and I learned that if I worked hard enough, I could get money to go to college. I refused to be sucked into the cycle. I helped my dad and brother as much as I could, but I exhausted every last surge of energy in school. By the second semester of 9th grade, I achieved straight A’s and the school newspaper advisor offered me the position of Editor in Chief. 10th grade began and my life itself had ameliorated. My mom had lost the custody battle and home life returned to normal. Aside from the newspaper I joined the Student Leadership Team and Academic Decathlon, all while acing my first AP class. I realized that my hard work was already paying off in opportunities and that if I worked even harder they’d multiply. That year was one giant

I think I had a bit too much time to think about things and picture what I thought my life would be going into college, and I think I was a bit disappointed when I got here. I thought college was going to be easy, I thought it was going to be easy to make friends and other connections, but it’s really not. I’m still not living up to the expectations that I have set for myself and that’s what is making my transition a little harder.

Coming to one of the best schools in North Carolina seems like an easy decision, but in reality, it’s not. You leave friends behind that you thought were going to be around forever; however, I was not saddened because I believed they were true friends. The saddest part was the fact that I knew I was about to lose that sense of familiarity. I was about to be alone with people who cared nothing about me. This is when motivation is necessary. I not only used my motivation in an educational aspect, I used it to build myself into a healthier strong willed person. There will be so many times that you fall to the lowest parts of the abyss, but you have to be the one to gain the will power and determination to pull yourself out of that low point. Then, once you climb out of that abyss, you cannot stop at the surface; you have to find the nearest mountain and climb to the top. That is when you truly succeed. It’s not when you achieve your goal—it’s when you surpass what you did not think you could achieve.

I started my freshmen year in high school with a negative attitude and had no goals set for myself. I didn't even know if I wanted to go to college, so I didn't take anything seriously. I didn't really care about my grades or gpa. However, throughout the years, I matured immensely, and devoted myself in school. I started to care about my grades and how they reflected me. I joined clubs, and started attending tutoring to increase my knowledge. I proceeded to challenge myself by taking harder classes to raise my GPA. My junior year I set a goal to achieve straight "A's" through the whole year, which I successfully achieved through dedication. I continued to set goals for myself for my senior year. I challenged myself by taking my first AP

“Enjoy this easy life while you have it, because once you get to college, no one cares how hard you have it.” This common phrase was preached to me throughout my high school years. It was instructed to me so often that I built a fear for college, although that I knew college would be my next step in life. It was a necessity for a successful future for myself. I dreaded the teachers, the social aspect, the homework, the exams, and the people. I became close-minded to something I had not even experienced yet. I allowed for that phrase to get inside my head and build a wall around the idea of college.

Coming from a STEM high school to that of a school like Carlow, was an experience that I would never want to take back. In some aspects, I felt that my high school had me overly prepared for what was to come. I didn’t come to college and felt a struggle with the subject matter, instead I felt that I strived. I commonly hear that it’s hard to balance socializing, studies, work and free time in college, however, I don’t feel that is 100% true. The balance is hard, however, I feel with good time management, it’s definitely possible, in my own experience, to at least be a B student, with a nice source of income and good friends. Of course, not everyone situation is the same but as for my academic objectives, I work hard to not only get good grades,