Never let school get in the way of your education. by Gracey

Never let school get in the way of your education. by Gracey - July 2014 Scholarship Essay

"Never let school get in the way of your education.”

This was the most valuable thing that I learned in high school.  As the most type A person you’ve never met, I spent my freshmen and sophomore year in a constant state of panic — always rushing to get the next assignment in and never, under any circumstance, missing a day of school. That’s what I was supposed to be doing right? This was how you get into a selective college right? Of course I was learning, I was in school. This was my life and I was sure I was doing everything right, until the fall of my junior year.

Junior year, upheld as the hardest of all years, I showed up the first day planner in hand, with my colored coordinated notebooks and folders, ready to get an A (and maybe learn something). I started the year in my same cycle of balancing deadlines and other responsibilities in constant cycle of stress, followed by monetary relief once the paper was in, only to immediately start on the next.

About two months in to the year, I was sitting in AP US history, which had quickly become my favorite class. When Mr. Marrin started to hand out a sheet of paper. What could this be? A study guide? Some kind of extra credit? “I just want to let you guys know about an amazing opportunity that is available to you” he started. “The Minnesota House of Representatives has a program that allows high school juniors to stay in Saint Paul and work on the floor of the House for a week.” At this point I was so in, until the deal breaker that came next, “If you get into the program they will assign you a week and you'll miss that week of school.”

Hold up.

Miss a week of school? I had missed three days of school at the most in all of high school. There was no way I could do this. I pushed the info sheet away, having already decided that the program wasn't a possibility. Then Mr. Marrin, who far and away is the most engaging and sincere teacher I’ve had to date, said something that I connected with and it really changed my view. He said ‘Don’t let school get in the way of your education.” In that moment, coming from him, I realized wasn’t here to get an A, I was here to learn something. My decisions shouldn't be controlled by making sure I got everything in on time, but rather by making sure I actually learned something. I applied and was accepted into the program. I missed a week of school. In that week I didn't go to a single class, but I probably learned more than I had in my entire sophomore year. My week at the capital changed my life, and is the reason I plan to major in political science. Mr. Marrin changed the way that I look at my education with one sentence and for that I am forever grateful.