Personal Narrative: My Pursuit Of Honor

The general argument made by Berdan in her work, “Participation Trophies Send A Dangerous Message,” is that participation awards commemorate individuals for everyone being a winner. More specifically, Berdan argues that distributing participation trophies to all participants diminishes the meaning of the first, second, or third place trophy. She writes, “When awards are handed out like candy to every child who participates, they diminish in value.” In this passage, Berdan is suggesting that rewarding children constantly with a trophy decreases the value of the trophy that the actual winners earned. Personally, I agree with Berdan because I agree with the concept that providing children with constant rewards sends a dangerous message later in life. On the other hand, writer Eric Priceman defends his opinion that these continuous awards are a necessary part of the education process for young children and will benefit them to strive for better. More specifically, Priceman argues that there is a difference between an award and a reward; he states that an award is given for achievement while a reward is given for accomplishment. He writes, “Just syntax maybe, but anyone that has ever achieved at the highest level has had to endure multiple levels of accomplishment first.” In this passage, Priceman is suggesting that people who have reached the highest levels of trophies and medals have also been encouraged along the way with things such as participation awards. He describes the action of distributing participation awards similarly to encouraging phrases that motivate an individual to strive for greatness. Despite his argument, I believe Priceman is wrong because rewarding children with a meaningless trophy or certificate provides no benefit for them in their future. More specifically, I

It is an honor be part of the Geography department at Frostburg, and earned a 4.0 GPA in my first semester at Frostburg State University, and getting accepted into the National Honor Society. I was never an honors students. In fact, growing up involved a life of setbacks and challenges. School was very difficult for me. I was held back a year in first grade, and placed in self-contained special education classes, I been diagnosed with severe ADD and learning disabilities. While in elementary school, at one of my I.E.P meetings, the teachers told my parents that I would never make it to college and that as a teenager I could get caught up in drugs and possibly be suicidal, And, that I would need medications and to see therapists. Also, the

I also got some trophies for the two hundred and and four by four when I did track. When I was in middle school I went to this party for having the most things sold. I did a lot of things when I was in middle and high school. I helped out at the Blind Center when I was sixteen. I got the most hours from working there. They gave me an award for having the most hours. Working there was fun and stressful. I also got the change to go to the college over seas for my church. I didn't want to take the offer because I did not want to be away from my mom.

What was one of your extensive school accomplishments? I got the music award In 4th grade.In middle school, I got the awards.In middle school, I got the a-b honor roll award and kindness award.I think all schools should have awards such as : the music award, a-b honor roll, and kindness award these are the awards I am most noble of.

When I was in 6th grade, I received a medal. That medal said ¨Student of the year, Erik Alvarez Espinosa.¨ My mom had told me that the school called a day before the award assembly saying that I was going to receive an award. I was surprised when my teacher called my name saying that I won student of the year. When I went up the stage, I felt nervous because I was in front of a lot of people. My teacher gave a short speech about my good and hard work throughout the year.

“It was an incredible experience to see all of the accomplishments of the award winners, not just in their respective sports but in the classroom and community as well,” said Hensley. “Every single athlete had a unique impact on their school and community. I was so humbled to be included in such an ambitious group of individuals.”

When a kid receives an award for showing up or is told, “at least you tried”, it can set the kid up for future failures. For example, when a kid grows older, has to go to work, and is not productive his boss will not give him a participation award for showing up. This generation is taught that we only have to show up to be given credit and this is only setting us up for failure. In life, after school and sports, people have to try hard every day and sometimes they are not lucky enough to get everything they need by just showing

An achievement is a thing done successfully, typically done by effort, courage, or skill. Every individual has their fair share of achievements accomplished. Accomplishing these achievements help our self-esteem and help us grow mentally. The last time I accomplished something great was when I received the Top Scholar award in the fifth grade. It was a very intense year. The Top Scholar award is a very prestigious award that is given to the person who worked the hardest throughout the year. There were many times where I just wanted to give up and just settle for second place. However, my mother, family, teacher and friends kept urging me to never give up. At the end of the year, I was awarded the Top Scholar award for my class. I felt like I had truly accomplished something great. The Top Scholar award was the greatest achievement I’ve received because the award taught me to never give up, reflected my potential, and helped me develop great skills.

One failure in my life was being removed from the magnet program after seventh grade at East Columbus Magnet Academy. I had gotten a 78 in my English class. I could not believe I had let that grade drop so low. To me, A C felt like an F. At first, I was distraught, but learned to accept that I had to change schools. The transfer was rough, but I soon grew to like the school in my district. A few months into my eighth grade year, my English teacher at my new school, Marshall Middle School, asked me if I was interested in something called the T. Hiram Stanley Award. Each of the eight middle schools in my city was allowed to nominate one student. The winner was awarded $3,000. I was awarded $1,000. Even though I was not awarded the highest, I

Being recognized for how much effort you put into doing well in school is something that every student hopes for although when attending a school of over 30 thousand students it is highly likely that it is and will be overlooked. While the NSCS does recognize members for

Participation awards encourage involvement by recognizing the hard work of everyone involved, which is why they shouldn’t be seen as pity awards that students don’t deserve. By rewarding participation, you applaud the effort and hard work of the deserving winners, but also the hundreds of other competitors who put forth their best effort. Unfortunately, parents like James Harrison don’t understand the purpose or benefit of participation awards, resulting in the stigma around them. James confiscated his son’s award saying that “these trophies will be given back until they EARN a trophy,” and “sometimes your best is not good enough,” but often, your best effort is enough. You’re not always going to be the best, even if you try your hardest, and

That is the only educational award I've ever gotten. My achievement is conquering a fear that I use to have about spiders, but I got over that.My second achievement is learning how to ride a bike at the age of five on the first day so I was really happy about that.I made a bunch of friends over time and back then I was really shy to talk to other people. I learned how to fish with my dad and my mom taught me how to cook.I got a game system at the age of four, it was a bike game it was pretty cool and awesome. I thought getting a game was like an award back then for being a good student and having good grades at

The teacher at my school that I have the upmost respect and admiration for is Mr. DeCerbo. At the end of every year he gives out an award labeled “Outstanding achievement in the field of excellence” to students who have earned his respect by performing exceptionally well in his calculus class, and by being a great person in general. All of the winners of this award are recorded on a framed list that he keeps at the front of the class, so that students see the list, and have something compete for. I have so much respect for Mr. DeCerbo that winning this award will mean more to me than any other honor that I’ve received in high school. Most of the other teachers that I have had in my educational career have never impressed me, and I really could

I also received a couple of honor certificates in different subjects and this made me think to myself, “maybe I’m not so bad after all” It was such a big deal to me, because some of my friends and teachers had told me that they didn’t really see any potential in me, and always compared me to my siblings. I proved them all wrong, and also made myself proud.

The reason I didn't get any award could have been because of a mishap that happened with my parents signing me up for the event too late. This has happened to me plenty of times and I usually accept the fact that if there is the one thing that could go wrong, it will go wrong specifically for me, but this award ceremony was a moment