Self Doubt is Never a Cure, Just a Curse by Alexis R.

Self Doubt is Never a Cure, Just a Curse by Alexis R. - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

In the school system, there are many impacts that a student takes in from day to day with some being positive or negative. The number one impact that I take in as a high school student is the forty-five to fifty-five minute classroom sessions I have with my teacher. The most important lesson I’ve learned from my teacher is that self doubt will never take care of the problem, but confidence in yourself will overcome any situation.
High school can be a laborious and demanding time for any teenager with countless amounts of homework, extracurricular activities, and college prep. Many teenagers seek for inspiration throughout school whether it’s your teacher, friend, or counselor. The beginning of high school really tests my skills of organization, work ethic and overall sanity. But beyond all of the stress, I had one teacher that really stuck out to me when he understood my overall character better than me. During my freshman year, I might have thought my work was enough. Coach Burks had another agenda for his “charismatic leader” in his class.
I was very comfortable with my grades in his class, maxing out a teacher’s class with an A+ is never something to complain about. It began to get more punctilious when in the middle of the school year, I noticed my grades never matched my expectations I set in the beginning. For the first time all year, I observed that many students in my class were either close to or above my grade point average. Beyond that, my grades on my projects, assessments, and class work were graded harder than ever before. After school, it took a long conversation with my teacher to realize my comfort zone in this subject was not enough. Coach Burks believed in me so much he began to grade me more rigorously than the other students to allow me to push myself. “As a teacher, my best advice to you is that your work is never hard work until you quit doubting yourself and push harder. Never compare yourself to others and say ‘I can’t do that!’ You can, but you must try.” This unforgettable advice holds a strong placement inside my mind because I get to see through a different perspective that my doubt overcame my confidence and my comfort zone was never safe in the first place. High school students in today’s generation always begin to believe that they can’t do as much as the next kid or simply that work was crafted for someone else. The truth may be that everyone has their own destiny but YOU never know until you try! You can’t pave your way to the future just sitting back and saying “well if I only…” Realizing now, doubting myself to others never got me farther than where I already was.
The lesson of not letting doubt overcome your situation and always have confidence in yourself is the most important teaching I’ve ever learned from my teacher. Thanks to my teacher, having confidence in myself and my work has pushed me out of my comfort zone with a more clear realization. It’s time for students to stop wondering and putting “can’t” in the sentence and start your mission.