Proving Myself to My Studies - Essay Example

Proving Myself to My Studies There are few things that my family values more than education. Throughout my entire life, my parents have told me that the best way to succeed in life is to apply myself to my studies. Although this is something that I have always been taught, in the past, I have struggled at times to do well in school. I know that I am a smart person and am completely capable of getting good grades, but I think that I have let the pressure of potentially disappointing my parents get to me. However, after entering the ninth grade, I was able to better handle the pressure and prove to my parents that I could be a great student. In the process of this, I was able to learn a valuable lesson as well. This lesson that I learned in high school has since stayed with me, and I have made it a point to put my best foot forward in all that I do. Of course, I know that this doesn’t mean that I will be successful in everything that I ever do in life. I will still fall at times and fail at some endeavors just as all humans do. The point is though that even when I do fail, I remember that I have been successful in the past, and that if I keep going, I know I will be successful in the future. If my parents hadn’t inspired me to prove myself to them that I was a good student, I might never have learned this important lesson. In the end, proving that I was a good student to my parents showed me that hard work and effort can lead to a better life, both in terms of self esteem and success. Such a lesson is invaluable, and one that I would not trade for anything in the world. The beginning of high school is always scary. There are new rules, new teachers, and harder classes to deal with. The first day of ninth grade, I struggled with the fear of letting my parents down again. Eighth grade had proven to be something of a disaster as my grades were far lower than my parents expected. This year, I knew that I needed to prove myself to them, to show them that I could get the grades that they believed I was capable of. When I was young, of course, it could be difficult to concentrate on what I should be doing instead of concentrating on what I actually wanted to do. With that in mind, high school was a very distracting place for me as I tried to focus on my studies. My friends were pressuring me to hang out and have fun, which I desperately wanted to do, but imagining the look on my parents’ face when I came home with a report card full of A’s was a bit more tempting than an afternoon of spending time with my friends. My plan to prove myself to my parents started off slow. I first became more organized. I bought a special assignment notebook that provided me with the opportunity to carefully write down each assignment given to me in my classes each day. This way, when I came home from school, I would know exactly what homework I had each night and exactly what each assignment entailed. In school years past, I hadn’t bothered to write down my assignments in this way. I used to simply try and remember all the assignments, which ended up causing me to turn in my homework late. Late homework equaled a lower grade on that homework, which equaled a lower grade overall. By writing down my assignments, I ensured that I would never turn my homework in late ever again. This was a simple fix to my problem, but very effective in improving my grades right away. Although writing down my assignments took care of a large part of my problem, I also knew that there was more I could do. I started asking questions during class and visiting my teachers after school if I found that I didn’t understand a certain concept in class. I had always been a bit timid when it came to asking questions or clarifying matters that were confusing. I knew though that if I wanted to prove to my parents that I could be a great student, I would need to get over that fear and become more proactive when it came to this aspect of my education. Although it was hard at first to raise my hand or approach my teachers, I soon came to see that the teachers appreciated the extra effort I was taking and were glad to help me when I needed it. Ultimately, getting this additional help was essential for me in terms of understanding the homework and performing well on tests and quizzes. Before long, all of my effort had paid off immensely. My grades were really good. In fact, I made the honor roll a few times. I remember how good it felt when I brought home that first report card of the school year to my parents. At first, I could tell that they were bracing themselves for my usual average grades. When they opened the report card, however, their faces lit up with delight and surprise. They told me how proud they were of me, and how they had always known I could be a great student if I just applied myself. Their expressions were the best reward I could have ever received. In that moment, I had proven myself to be a good student to my parents, and it made me feel like all the effort and time had been completely worth it. Even though it was hard to deal with my parents’ disappointment about my less than stellar grades in the past, I know now that they pushed me so hard because they saw that I had the potential to do great things. Once I was able to see that, I simply needed to put forth the effort that I knew was laying dormant inside of me Although the goal and the ultimate result of all that effort was to prove myself to my parents, I also think that I ended up proving something to myself too. Essentially, I proved that I could do anything that I set my mind to in life. Read More