Do it now by Daniel

Do it now by Daniel - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

When my tenth grade biology teacher Mr. Lawrence told the class that by doing a task when one got it, everything would be much easier. He said that in school, assignments were done the day he got them, and tests were studied for a little everyday. Mr. Lawrence then claimed that while everyone else was cramming for tests, he’d not only sleep early, but also get grades higher than everyone else. I didn’t believe him, and I should have. Tenth grade was full of cramming and rushed projects.

It’s a good thing that I used Mr. Lawrence’s advice when I entered the International Baccalaureate Programme, or IB. If I hadn’t, odds are I would have had abysmal grades, for IB was renown for it’s difficulty. IB had many requirements. A student had to take two semesters of a philosophy class called the Theory of Knowledge. Six core courses were mandatory, and at least three needed to be higher level. Each course had a cumulative final exam spanning two years of content, for each course was two years in length. On top of this, the course load was to be heavy.

At first I didn’t think Mr. Lawrence’s advice would work. It seemed too simple. But still, I tried it, and I’m glad I did. Everyday, I’d finish whatever assignment I’d received. When a test was announced, I began studying on that day. The same was done for big projects. Anything and everything was started immediately, and finished as soon as possible.

After a while, I noticed something: I never felt stressed. When everyone else in class was panicking because a test was coming, I wasn’t. When a major project was due, I had no concerns. As for my grades, I got almost all A’s in Junior year, and all A’s in my senior year. The entire time I never felt stressed. Even in college, that advice from Mr. Lawrence still proves valuable. Last year, my first year of college, I earned straight A’s. Just the simple plan of doing everything as soon as possible is, in my opinion, the best plan of all.

Being prompt, the advice of my Biology teacher, was the best advice a teacher ever gave me. To others it seemed as though I was extremely smart, for when asked about an assignment by a peer, my response was always “I finished it earlier”. Just doing something early means not having to do that thing later. One frees up time down the road, and with it gains flexibility should anything happen later.