<p>Wise Fool
In early September of my sophomore year, I received a thirty page packet filled with information about basic chemistry and armed with two words of advice from my teacher, study this. A test on Unit 0 seemed easy so I ignored the advice of my teacher to focus on more important things like fall baseball and football practice. On test day, about a month later, I finally opened the packet for the first time and felt confident as I flipped casually through it. Id never studied and mostly received good grades. Being a creature of habit, I believed in the phrase, if it isnt broke, dont fix it. Even after I handed the test in, I had confidence Id receive an A or at the very least a B. Weeks later as the test was handed back to me, I stared in shock as my eyes were glued the number on the corner of the page. It had to be a fluke, it couldnt be my test, there was no way I could get a D to start the year. Following my flawed habits however, I continued to not study leading me to end the first half of the semester with a 72. I was truly living up to being a sophomore, a wise fool.
Sitting in front of a computer, with the number 72 still digging into me like a sharp knife, I knew I had some decisions to make. As my frustration grew throughout the year, thoughts flooded my head about dropping from the honors class to regular to salvage my grade. I was questioning myself for taking the honors chemistry class, as after only one marking period I was trying to control the damage to not only my GPA, but my reputation as a strong student. Worst of all however, as I stared at the number, I was embarrassed by my lack of effort. My strategy was broken and I had finally recognized it was time to fix it. I figured that the future would be filled with dreary hours studying and the prospect of staying after school for the first time. For the second half of the semester, I was staying after school for extra help regularly and studying for the first time. As the hours spent studying increased, the test scores improved, and I begin to enjoy working hard. Finally after months of putting in an effort, my teacher, Dr. Sun offered extra credit for performing well on the last test. I once again had regained my confidence before the final test however, this time it was from the hours spent studying. After nearly a dozen tests, I had finally gotten an A for that final test and for the end of the final semester. As I looked at the final weighted grade of a 90, my prior embarrassment was now pride, all starting by caring about my effort.
After reviewing my initial failures in the class, an attitude change allowed me to care and put in an effort. Learning is supposed to be fun, and failing initially was necessary for me to enjoy education and create an upward trend for my grades. Learning to study effectively was a process that I enjoyed by utilizing resources such as YouTube that allowed me to enjoy learning. Putting in an effort to improve my chemistry grade started with recognizing failure and understanding how to overcome adversity. I needed to struggle to learn how to study and enjoy working hard in academics. After failing initially in honors chemistry was a beneficial experience as I developed from a wise fool into a stronger and hard working student.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=255610[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=255610</a></p>
<p>It’s not a strong essay. It’s predictable and I felt you could have told the story in about 1/4th the space.</p>
<p>I used to not study because I could ace my classes without needing to. Then I took a hard class and struggled until I learned to study. Now I have improved habits and skills.</p>
<p>I suppose a great many people could write this story.</p>
<p>You are telling it first person, then you switch to ’ As the hours spent studying increased, the test scores improved’</p>
<p>this sentence is confused, like your teacher was advising to focus on baseball</p>
<p>’ I ignored the advice of my teacher to focus on more important things like fall baseball’</p>
<p>You need to do something about the wall of text that is the 2nd paragraph.</p>