Calculus Changes my Paradigm by Bernadette

Calculus Changes my Paradigm by Bernadette - December 2014 Scholarship Essay

For my Fall quarter as a Senior, I took a calculus course. I quickly became overwhelmed with the amount of time and brainpower I had to invest in this class. For the first week of school, I had so much things that I had to do that I didn't want to sleep. Even after I dropped a course and my schedule became less hectic, I still could not attain an adequate grade in calculus.

The decision to drop a class was difficult for me. I had never given up on a course before; I wanted so badly to do everything and not drop a single responsibility.

The real challenge came when my schedule became less hectic and I still could not get my grade above a 73%. It was frustrating to be working so hard on a class, but not being able to get a sufficient score on the exams. I consider myself a good student, so why could I not get a good grade?!

I felt defeated. But this challenge led to the discovery that school is about learning material that challenges you and not about earning a grade. I loved learning higher math concepts and I knew that could muster enough willpower to master them. I had to look past the degrading numbers if I wanted to understand derivatives.

Going through with the whole course has given me a new definition of dedication and goal-setting. There will be more times in my life when I will have to accept that I will not be able to achieve all of my goals. It is amid that realization that I will choose to stick to the plan of getting my other goals completed.

Grade-wise, I did not do as well as I had hoped in my calculus class. But I exceeded my own expectations as for the concepts I had mastered.