Essay on My Love for Learning

As both the standards of school work and stress levels of student’s rise, the American school system remains unaltered, unchanged, and unaffected for over a hundred years. School is an institution that can serve as a massive gate in life granting you access to a job, stability, and a future or it can become a giant pillar in the way of everything you wish to achieve. While we recognize that a student’s own motivation, study habits, and will to learn, are cardinal in any schooling system, we must also understand the issues with an institution that is fundamentally unsound from the ground up. In today’s world, students are shoved with the hands of docility, and amenability as they render themselves in a system that has inadvertently failed them, by neglecting to celebrate their differences, and varying learning patterns. Conformity in the education system has shown to damage the personalization and

However, junior year of high school changed that: I was given the opportunity to take either AP Psychology, or AP European History. I felt that the obvious choice would be to take AP European History, since I’m European and therefore already had a solid foundation for succeeding in the class, but something inside me told me to take a blind leap of faith and choose AP Psychology instead. This choice proved to be one of the greatest decisions I have made in my life. Through this class, I emerged myself into the world of psychology and fell in love with it. I didn’t complete the assignments to get a good grade. I completed them because I cherished every minute of it, and I started applying the materials learned in class to real life

When I was in my final year of middle school, I was self-aware of myself being very lax with my classes and decided to put more effort into studying and probably find a passion. Although the only real passion that I could say that I ever had in my classes was social studies. When I was finished with the first semester of 8th grade I was being more open to embracing more subjects such as science and computer science but Math never seemed to stick to me

After all, math was one of my best subjects. I had never really had an experience where I just couldn't understand the concept of a math problem, of how it was solved and why. Our teachers has warned us back in elementary school, that one day we would hit an invisible wall and not ease through classes. That one day we would struggle with understanding a problem, a concept or even a subject. I had never believed them, thinking this would never happen to me, that I could somehow avoid this wall of confusion and just walk right through. But there I was, utterly confused and frustrated at a simple problem that everyone else could solve. Why was I not seeing it? Why couldn't I understand the solution? I asked myself. For the first time in my life I really struggled to get an A in a class. I had my sister tutor me almost every day, preparing for a quiz and then the next, and the next. I came in to my teacher for lunch and he helped me step by step. I studied for tests, and worked hard. And my work payed off. I got a high A in the course, and a lot of experience from it. It taught me how to work hard for something, to earn a good grade when you deserve it, and it gave me the skills I needed to get As in the high school classes I am taking this

I realize that there have been many things that have influenced my growth as an individual. However, because I am so often drawn to ideas in math and science, I’d have to conclude that these two fields of study pose the most compelling as far as personal development. My interest in these fields have impacted who I am today. As a younger student I did not really care much about school. In fact, my second grade teacher pronounced me a failure, but my parents believed in my strengths, and gradually school turned a corner for me. By the end of my sophomore year I had begun watching lectures of theoretical physics, and deep space astronomy from the World Science Festival. I went into my Junior year very ambitious and self motivated! My cumulative GPA within

While reading Too Cool for School by Ellis Cose I have became aware of various aspects of my ‘schooling’ experience. I realized that I may not have had the best schooling experience, but I never pushed up against the system to get any better. Throughout my life I have attended over 10 schools some very high end others bottom of the barrel. Like Cose, I always knew my intellectual abilities, but I was always so dissatisfied with my situation I didn't make the best of it. Instead of soaking up as much knowledge as possible and making a lesson out of my situation I became complacent. I started to slack off and allow myself to become stagnant to what I knew my abilities were. I allowed myself to be a product of my environment when I should I have

As a student entering middle school, there are myriads of changes that can actually happen with the academics. Some students begin to rebel and care less about education when they reach middle school. I was the complete opposite. I had a plan to always get good grades and to participate in clubs and specific organizations, which meant that I had to get good grades. My academics have and will always be the most important to me. When I reached the seventh grade I was given the opportunity to go into eighth grade math and skip seventh grade math. I thought that it was a mix up because I thought that was not possible, how could a course be skipped? The counselor then explained the concept to me, my teacher had recommended me to take a test and

I received a C in my first semester of Algebra 2 freshman year and was mortified, too ashamed to speak of it. When I opened my mail-home transcript, I felt as if I were watching my college dreams wither away. It was my first year of high school, a scary indicator of how my math career would pan out the next few years. After my meltdown, I relaxed and wondered, why did this happen? I had five As. What exactly was I doing wrong? After some self-evaluation, I realized I had an issue with math as a subject. In middle school, I only received a B in geometry, which should have given me the idea that I might not be ready for the next level. This is the cliché “denial” phase, where I was making excuses instead of accepting what had

Thinking that I would never be capable of climbing the mountain that is math. Even after attending after school help to try solidify my understanding, I ended up achieving a score that I could never be satisfied with. I began to panic and developed a state of mind that spiraled into darkness. After a few days I decided to consult my closest friend with the issues that I’ve been facing and my current state of mind. It was then she told me ten words that resonated with me to a degree that no other advice has done: “It’s not about where you start, but where you end.” Those words alone struck me out of my rut and helped me clear my mind and look to bring up my grade with the abilities and tests that I have left to show my

I came back to graduate school last semester at the ripe-old age of 31, unsure of what I wanted to get out of it. I had spent a year in graduate studies in English at the University of Maine about six years earlier, but left because I wasn't ready to commit to an academic life. In the six years since I left Maine, my life had been anything but academic. For the first year or so, I "temped" at conventions and tradeshows, went on auditions and performed in regional theater. Then a friend of mine introduced me to her acting teacher, and I got involved in a two-year intensive acting program which forced me to look at myself and my life deeply (and luckily got me into therapy)! During that

Growing up I was never the academic scholar. I struggled in school throughout the years. I didn’t believe college was the path for me; when I was in high school there were times I thought about dropping out, because I had a fix mindset. I thought either someone is born with an education or is not intelligent, and this made me not care about school.

When I was little my neighbor would catch bugs in cages. Every time I came over in the summer I sat in the sun with the bug catcher, ignored my neighbor, and wondered what was inside of the little cocoon hanging off of a half dead twig. Now in my senior year, I walk through an empty lot everyday on my way to school and I am greeted by flocks of butterflies fluttering as I disturb their resting places.

Junior year was a true test of my determination, skills, and perseverance. I faced some of the most common educational challenges students face such as the fear of not being able to pursue my interests because of not being good at it and worrying about how I compared to others. I decided to take AP Physics 1, brushing off warnings of how difficult it was. I wasn’t going to be intimidated, but rather take this challenge. However, I underestimated how difficult the class would actually be. When the teacher began teaching it was as if he was speaking another language. Even when I thought I understood the concepts, I would go to do my homework and blankly stare at the problems, not knowing how to even approach them. I felt helpless because no matter how intently I paid attention or how many problems I attempted, my brain wasn’t processing the information. I would study even more after listening to the lectures and doing the homework and thought I finally understood the lessons, until the quizzes came around. I would walk into class nervous because I knew I was still having trouble with the lesson; my heart would begin pounding when the bell rang as if it were a cue for my nerves and my palms would become sweaty. I would scratch my name at the top and began to read the first question, but I would panic when I didn’t understand it and my mind would go blank. I would get my grade back, look at the score, and slump in my chair- my score clearly reflected my lack of confidence. I

As a kid going to school every day is not the most fun thing to do. Kids show up and go from class to class figuring out your strengths and weaknesses, enjoying some classes more than others. As I was learning about all the different subjects I found myself gravitating towards math and science more than the other subjects. I would always enjoy those classes more than say my English class where I was not “gifted and talented” like I was in my early days of math. Concluding in my elementary school mind that I was not very good at English that stuck to me and would influence my thought of my literacy talent for a while. I would always think I would not be good at understanding literacy such as reading, spelling, and my writing. I thought I would never be able to succeed with literacy until a summer in Rhode Island.

The education we receive today holds the power to shape the individuals we will be in the future. Not only does our education aid our choices throughout school, but also the choices we make in our personal lives like where we choose to work and how we portray ourselves to society. Personally, I have enjoyed my educational experience. I have enjoyed learning new concepts and interacting with new people. Of course, there are obstacles along the way. However, these obstacles have given me the opportunity to realize my strengths and weaknesses and learn to improve in both areas. As a student, I hold onto my perseverance, seek guidance from influential figures in my life, and embrace my challenges to which all contribute to my hope to become the finest version of myself.