A Bump in the Road by Eryn

A Bump in the Road by Eryn - August 2014 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my elementary and junior high years, I excelled as a mathematics student. I was able to skip an entire year of Algebra thanks to my impressive I-STEP scores and consistently impressed my teachers with my ability to catch on quickly and retain knowledge. It was not until I reached my junior year of high school and entered Trigonometry that I hit a significant bump in the road.

I had heard horror stories of the Trigonometry teacher and I dreaded this class more and more as the first day of school approached. I entered the classroom with plenty of time to spare before the third period bell rang. I found my seat near the front, organized my belongings, and waited for class to begin. The teacher turned out to be exactly as everyone had told me: goofy, incredibly smart, and challenging. He immediately began the lesson and I was especially comfortable with the review lessons he was explaining. I jotted down the night’s homework assignment just as the bell rang to go to fourth period. I went home that evening and completed the homework assignment as I assured myself of how easy this class was going to be.

As the weeks went by, the concepts became more difficult and the course load became a bit too much to handle. I began to fall behind on assignments and had a hard time understanding what was being taught. My biggest problem was that I worked a part time job on top of the load of homework for six classes I had to complete every night. My teacher was always eager to help students with questions outside of class, but with my work schedule, it was often times impossible to attend these after-class hours. So, I fell farther and farther behind, began to get C’s and D’s on tests, and continuously stressed about what I was going to do to catch up and improve my grades.

I got through Trigonometry with a low B average, but I was still a bit disappointed in myself. As I signed up for my senior year classes, I realized that Pre-Calculus was to be the next step. There was only one Pre-Calculus teacher: the same teacher I had for Trigonometry. I was stunned. How was I going to get through another year with this teacher and exceptionally harder concepts if I was barely able to make it through Trigonometry? Nevertheless, I signed up for the class, stressed about what I was going to do.
The fall semester of my senior year began and I entered my sixth period Pre-Calculus class. The class was just as difficult as I had anticipated it to be. I quickly got behind and my grade fluctuated between a C and D average. I was overwhelmed. I had never gotten a C in my entire high school career. Something had to be done. I scheduled an appointment with my guidance counselor who gave me two options; 1. stick it out until the end of the semester, take the C or D, then drop out, or 2. stay in the class for the remainder of the year and receive two below average semester grades on my transcript. I chose the first option. The remaining weeks of the semester dragged on as I became more disappointed in myself. In the end, I received a C for the semester and replaced Pre-Calculus with a Film Literature class for the spring semester in hopes of bringing my GPA back up before graduation.

I am not proud to say that I failed to complete this class in high school, but the experience was humbling in many ways. I quickly learned that I am not invincible when it comes to learning and I do not grasp everything as quickly and easily as I once thought. This complication was a firm lesson that concepts are not always going to come easily for me and life will throw many obstacles at me along the way. Whether or not I should have stuck it out and completed the entire year of Pre-Calculus, I do not know. What I do know is that I grew as a person and student thanks to the experience and I am forever grateful for that.