More than Just Chemistry by Celeste

More than Just Chemistry by Celeste - August 2016 Scholarship Essay

It is my senior year, and I have taken a good amount of classes. I've had the regulars-math and English- and also some more fun classes like Theatre and Ceramics, and some more difficult ones, AP Chemistry and such. In all these classes, one does learn the intended subject, if you pay attention, but there are some classes that just teach a whole lot more than could have been imagined. A class I enjoyed from the start, regardless of my grade, was Chemistry. The teacher is the best I have ever had-he actually taught! He was amazingly smart, and he was interesting and funny enough that we paid attention and made chemistry a relatable subject, such as intermolecular forces becoming similar to one's hands attempting to hold more puppies than possible.
This is the class that taught me that I had to stop. Unfortunately, I have a terrible habit that I had not been able to get rid of. I was, gasp, a procrastinator. I would almost never do homework at home, since too much stuff went on and I am easily distracted. I would finish it in the class before, and since Chemistry was my last class, I'd do it during lunch. This class taught me the value of time-and food. Thirty minutes is in reality no time at all, especially when trying to rush a Chemistry assignment that was given two days to do. Within the class, you would see chemicals reacting before your eyes, which proved that every second is very valuable. Also, I learned that giving up lunch did not help my focus. I learned that procrastinating was a very hard thing to stop doing, but that I COULD do it! It would just require a lot of effort on my part.
Chemistry also taught me the value of words, and that newspapers and such can manipulate the reader to agree with their opinion. For example, one could say that there was a dam of water that could either save five fish or (insert big number) of people. In reality it was between one big city, or many little cities that really needed that water to survive. Yes, I had taken many English classes before, but Chemistry was the one that really shoved it in my face.
Chemistry taught me many things, especially many not related to Chemistry at all. I loved the class and have considered majoring in it, shocking my parents. It showed me the value of time, the importance of being well-fed when learning an important lesson, the impact a certain choice of words can have, that challenging things can be fun and exciting, and that everything is possible, even breaking a habit you've loved with for as long as you can remember. For that I give big thanks to my Chemistry teacher.