Another Practice Test by Doan

Another Practice Test by Doan - June 2024 Scholarship Essay

While being enrolled in a rigorous high school provides me with endless resources to education, I often find that the education that are not in the curriculum provides me with more insight than I expect. Even though I have taken both AP and IB classes, the relationships I developed throughout those courses resonate with me more than any essay.

Taking challenging courses required me to stay afterschool almost every day of the week for tutoring, review, enrichment, and more. While many dreaded the 2 hours spent with teachers who were with us for the previous 8 hours of that day, it was during these 2 hours that I learned more about these teachers than those 8 hours could ever provide.

In sophomore year, I took AP U.S. History, which was a demanding class in general, but in AP specifically. I stayed back for enrichment to take practice tests before the real one was coming up. I took the first version and was less than satisfied with my score, so I asked to take another version. As I flipped through the multiple choice packet, I saw students all around me pack up their bags and leave the class. I turned in my packet and my grade was, yet again, not up to my preference. Relentlessly determined to get a score I wouldn’t be embarrassed of, I asked for another version to take.

My teacher refused to give me the last version of the test. After defending my point of needing to practice until I was proficient, he told me that this mindset would not result in improvement, but rather burnout. He emphasized that these grades were more that sufficient and he was proud of them and of me, which meant I should be, too.

Being an extreme critic of myself, I had to step back to recognize that my teacher was not saying these things just to say them. I packed up my bags and went home, learning more in that one enrichment session about practicing healthy support than I have for the past 15 years of my life. I bring this knowledge and mindset to group projects, exams, and classes by knowing limits for myself and others and being less prone to immediately disapprove. This one conversation with my teacher, that was not even during class, changed my entire academic and personal mindset.