A Game Changer by Gwen

A Game Changer by Gwen - July 2023 Scholarship Essay

I will never forget that cold day in January of my freshman year when our very first class ranking was released. I looked at the number on the screen with shock and horror. 303 out of 689, that can’t be right. What happened, how do I fix this? I was so embarrassed, I didn’t want to tell my friends what my class rank was, especially because all of my friends were below fifty in their ranking. After being upset, I knew I had to take action to improve the current course I was on.
I wasn’t motivated during my first semester of high school. I thought I was, but after much self-reflection, I realized I wasn’t. How do you motivate yourself? This was a lot to ask of myself at the age of 14. The lack of academic motivation was the biggest obstacle I had to overcome in my high school career. That class ranking did help to motivate me to do better. I started attending tutoring before school and creating study groups with friends who had the same classes. I found online videos of other teachers that would explain content that allowed me to understand it better. All of these new tactics caused my class ranking to start going down.
At first, I was motivated by that number, and seeing it shrink was enough, but before too long that was no longer my motivation. My focus shifted and it was no longer something extrinsic, but intrinsic. I learned I wanted to do better because I wanted to be better. I realized that this would lead to success in college and my career. Because of this obstacle, I have learned a valuable lesson about the importance of being able to motivate yourself. This is a lesson that will help me in college and beyond.