<p>@halcyonheather, I hope you become motivated again, & find enjoyment in school. (:</p>
<p>@ironchariot, you’re truly an inspiration! Thank you. It’s an honor to cross paths w/ you. :)</p>
<p>@Elainajulia, you’re response is very relatable to me, especially #5 . . . I’m happiest when I succeed my objectives.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who has partaken in this thread. I find all of your reasonings interesting, to say the least.</p>
<p>I have loved to learn for as long as I can remember. But for some reason, up until mid-semester of this school year, I have not been doing so great in school. I take every rigorous course offered for my year and I even double up in maths. My gpa for freshman year was a 3.3714 UW and 3.6 weighted. One can imagine how crappy it felt as the overachievers in my grade had talked about their horrible 4.134s and 4.2456s. Everyone also assumed that I was stupid and that they could just step on me as if I was garbage. They had always corrected me for the SMALLEST mistakes I had made, they had always mocked and jeered at me, and they have always given me those looks that screamed “You are going nowhere in life.” I truly believed that I was stupid. So I just stopped caring about everything, because what difference would it make, right? I was not smart, I had nothing to lose, it was not worth it to waste my time. I could put in a minimal effort and scrape by, watching all of the movies I want to watch. For some reason, two weeks ago or so, something has changed. </p>
<p>Believe me, I had all of these goals in my head since the start of high school and it is too late to complete some of them. I would always tell myself, maybe you could do this and that and maybe you will get wonderful grades. I still never took action; things are easier said than done. But then life became increasingly horrible. I grew up poor and I still am poor. But it was as if I forgot that. My dad had complained about something and talked about how some man was taking pictures of our home because he did not make a payment. It was then that I realized that I had nothing in my life to fall back on, and my family sure as hell could not help me. The next day, on Friday the 13th, my PSAT score came in. I was not expecting much, but I rushed straight from my first maths class to the cafeteria to get my results. I went up to my guidance counselor, and I said “I probably failed.” Turns out that I had earned one of the highest PSAT scores in the entire school, but it was not a high score in my opinion. I guess I realized then that I was not totally stupid. The score was something I could work off of. My W and CR scores were my highest and I scored in the 96th and 97th percentile. I had scored higher than virtually all of those jerks who treated me like trash. One should have seen the looks on their faces. </p>
<p>That night, I had made a winter break to do list, I was finally going to grab the bull by its horns; for if I continued to be a bum and do nothing, I would remain a good-for-nothing bum. Over this break so far, I have managed to really get ahead in APUSH and all of my classes as well. The semester is almost over and my 2nd marking period grade for honors English is at a high A, I started off the year with a C+. I have assembled midterm study guides and I have just been fascinated by everything I am learning about. And let me say that I have been through nothing and there are people out there who have had way harder than I ever will. My life is probably a good day for them. My point is, this feels wonderful and I am NEVER going back. When I return to school on the 3rd, I am going to march in there and appreciate the opportunity. None of you on here are stupid and you are all remarkable people. It has been a pleasure meeting all of you. Have a safe and wonderful break!</p>
<p>I really want to contribute intellectually to society, since 7th grade that’s been my number one goal. I really want to do good in high school so I can go to an amazing college and contribute there.</p>
<p>To be the world dictator.</p>
<p>I used to have a lot of motivation, but then last year (sophomore year) was an utter disaster. I was suffering from terrible circumstances within my family life and what was a 3.0 freshman year became a 2.5 sophomore year. I also had the same GPA from the first marking period this year. Another factor is that I’ve been waiting to move from my town since June. But I kinda made a mess of it and told people too early. I also have way too much pressure from my parents and they make me feel like a failure if I think that I’m going anywhere but an Ivy. However, I feel that my school isn’t the right environment for me. So, moving would revive my academic career.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk</p>
<p>@LaDiDaDaLaDiDa, great story, thanks for sharing. You’ve inspired me to make my own to do list, to take things to the next level because you’re right–regardless of where we are in life or what others may say of us, we all have potential to be and do great. It’s just a matter of embracing what we’ve got.</p>
<p>@wcao9311, knowledge is power ; )</p>
<p>I guess I just want to prove to the world that I’m not worthless. I’ve had many people tell me that I am, but since then I have gone out of my way to prove them wrong. I was a “remedial” child in Elementary and Middle School, always being referred to places for extra help. I never took it (except for speech therapy); I was simply too proud. If I improved, I wanted to be the only one able to take credit for it. I am now the Valedictorian of my class with a 4.0 unweighted GPA taking the most challenging classes offered. People in my class frequently ask me for help as opposed to me being labeled as the one who needs help. This is my way of saying f*** the establishment.</p>
<p>Because of the statistics that say I CAN’T do well in school.</p>
<p>I do it to one day be the Dictator of the World!</p>
<p>But really, I do it to be #1.</p>
<p>Because I feel compelled to be the best, or at least as close to the best as possible. I’m just really competitive, I guess.</p>
<p>The sheer need for achievement. I MUST do something very, very well. If it wasn’t school, it would be something else - like athletics. I also feel that if I am not the best, then I have failed completely. I know, very type A and all, but I just can’t help it.</p>
<p>I am compelled by my completely made-up belief that I am destined to shape the world and enlighten others :3 of course that probably won’t happen though.</p>
<p>Tbh I do it because I don’t want to continue the rut my family has kind of been in. I also want become successful so I’m able to help my family and be financially secure when I’m older. And to me good grades lead to financial security</p>
<p>Though not the best answer, it sets me apart from those who I have always felt inferior to. It allows me to feel as though my two cents are important, and most importantly it fuels my imagination. With each new lesson I am taught and do well in, the further I can expand the choices in routes I have in this road of life.</p>
<p>I don’t. I have a really debilitating case of senioritis right now- I can pinpoint two midterms that I just failed in all probability and I really don’t care because I’m in my first choice college and my first choice gap program so it really doesn’t matter.
(By the way, before I get all the responses, if I really did fail, and I’m not sure I did, my other grades in those classes are good enough that even if the programs do see my end of year transcript they won’t kick me out.)
In the past, I’m really not sure what my motivation’s been. I’m not sure if I’ve had one at all. I just devote the requisite time to studying and doing the basic amount of homework necessary to do well. And I do. I mean, like everyone I tend to care more and try harder in classes I enjoy, like Bio and Creative Writing, but otherwise my motivations kind of don’t really exist. I kind of coast along. I get honor roll grades but not valedictorian-level grades like my friends. If my test score has a 9 in the tens place then I’m happy (if this is on a math test, I’m ecstatic).
In college, my motivations are going to be to stay in the honors program so I don’t lose my scholarship and do well enough to get into med school. I think that’s a big enough motivation to be getting on with, personally.</p>
<p>Honestly, this question really made me pause because… I mean, I don’t know. It’s just something that I’ve always done. My parents pushed me a lot when I was younger, and I was always doing my absolute best in order to impress them. That still plays a factor now, even though it’s a lot of internal pressure more than anything. I still want to validate their hard work, since they’ve been able to raise me so well. </p>
<p>I also think it’s personal ambition. I’m self-driven and a huge dreamer. I want to do well. To leave my mark. To not have any regrets. So I always do everything that I can to the absolute best of my ability, rather than just doing the required.</p>
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<p>This is the cynical answer I gave when I was probably procrastinating on something, so now that I’m at the beginning of a new semester and happy about my classes I’ll say something more optimistic. </p>
<p>I’ve decided that the meaning of my life is to learn about the world/other people, and thinking about this helps me feel better whenever I worry about my own mortality and stuff like that. I want to be smart. The quality of what passes for my intellectual life now is a lot better than what it was when I was in fifth grade or so, because I know more stuff. I want to someday be able to think at a higher level than I do now (which sounds sort of loony, but you know what I mean), and the most official standard path-of-least-resistance way to accomplish this is by doing well in school.</p>
<p>Ambition and desire to learn. I want to be good and I want to learn a lot doing it XD</p>
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<p><em>insert stupid comment about the bus</em></p>
<p>^ I prefer to walk instead</p>