A Mindset Shift by Abigail

A Mindset Shift by Abigail - November 2020 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my years of education, I have appreciated and enjoyed school due to having friends in classes and getting the opportunity to be involved in clubs and extra-curricular activities. Yet due to the vast change in our world, now, school looks different.

I am not able to socialize in the halls of the school, and so many activities have been altered or even canceled. Yet I learned early on in the 2021 school year that I needed to have a "mindset shift", I needed to allow myself to enjoy my education through a different lens. Now with this change - that I have allowed myself to go through - I am able to appreciate my teachers more. Each educator that I come in contact with I now have so much more grace and understanding, they are truly our warriors. But teachers aren't the only thing that has shifted in my mind, one of the greatest opportunities that I simply took for granted prior to COVID-19 was discussions and class learning. Being able to speak with your proctors and classmates about the emotions and literary elements throughout a short story, or speaking in a foreign language with those around you in class. Now examples such as these are ways that my education has become more prominent and how I have learned to become more thankful for my schooling.