My Lesson Outside the Classroom by Drew

My Lesson Outside the Classroom by Drew - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

It was a bright, sunny day in Fayetteville, North Carolina, ten days before graduation. At that time, I was dating this boy in my class. Nobody thought he actually liked me. In fact, everybody thought that I should have been with someone who treated me better and actually cared for me, but I did not believe them and thought he was simply wonderful. The time came for fourth period to begin, and we had both decided that we would be late to fourth hour because we wanted to spend more time together. I had a study hall period, and he had Spanish so it did not really matter if we skipped class. We ended up going to the library (because there were no cameras there), and we kissed. Although this may not seem like a big deal, I went to a very conservative Christian school where kissing was not allowed, so the fact that I skipped class to do this made it even worse. We were eventually caught, and the shame and embarrassment I felt once I realized what I had done truly put me into one of the lowest points in my life.
My amazing history teacher was the one who caught us. She was actually my kindergarten teacher as well and had known me all of my life. She watched me grow up and knew I was better than my actions were portraying at that time. She did not say anything to me that day besides sending me to the principal’s office, but the next day I went to her to apologize for my actions because I not only disappointed myself, but I disappointed her. When I apologized, she told me that yesterday she was upset at me, but she was now happy that I realized what I did wrong and was willing to admit it. She then proceeded to tell me a very personal story of how her son had dealt with something similar to my situation except on a magnified scale. She said that if someone would have told her family about him earlier, then they could have had the chance to stop him, and he would not be going through all the troubles and consequences he was at that point. I was deeply touched with her transparency and honesty as she shared some of the gruesome details of her son’s ordeal.
After many tears were shed, she shared with me the lesson that still holds true for me today: I should lower my standards for no one. Leading up to this incident, I was President of the National Christian Honor Society; captain of the volleyball, basketball, and soccer teams; and I used to act in all the school plays. I had a good reputation at my school, and I put all of that in jeopardy during my last week of classes. I skipped one study hall and that alone was lowering my standards enough, but I skipped it for a boy, which I should have never done. Even today, as I am entering my junior year of college, I have to remind myself that I was raised wonderfully by my parents, and no one is important enough to lower my standards for. If they truly have my best interest in mind, they will not want me to lower my standards at all. I cherish this lesson because it was not one learned in a textbook while sitting in the back of a classroom, but it was one learned by experience. While it is true that experience was a tough teacher, having the help and guidance of my history teacher made learning this lesson much easier.