Becoming a Better Student by Holly

Becoming a Better Student by Holly - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

Midnight strikes, a new year begins, and as the fireworks boom, deep inside our hearts goals are envisioned. We make promises to be better versions of ourselves, however despite our best intentions by March these plans turn into what we’ve always done. For many years I have also seen this pattern in my life, the resolutions I make January first are usually forgotten by the time spring comes. So this year, frustrated by the lack of commitment to resolutions in the past, I asked myself the question of why this trend seems so popular in our society today and specifically in my life. After quite a few hours of introspection, I came to the realization that the goals I was setting were too big. I would aspire to “be kinder” or “work harder” but I never took the time to figure out how I would work harder, or even what working harder looked like. It was too broad to make any real change. I realized that to avoid failure, the goal must not only be specific but also have passion and a plan behind it.
With this is mind, I changed my perspective on how to set resolutions for 2016. I first imagined what the person I wanted to become was like. I wrote down every characteristic of this person, and then related it to each area of my life. When it came to becoming a better student I noticed that every characteristic I strived to become somehow related to finishing. It wasn’t about finishing my homework on time, or even not doing projects too late, because I already do this. It came down to the little things. It’s saying to myself “I’ll read these three chapters” and not giving up once I got to the second chapter. It’s “I’ll finish this essay tonight, so I can revise it tomorrow” and making sure I finish, the essay that night. It’s even “I’ll start this extra work to receive a better grade” and then following through to finish it. So far I can already tell this tactic of improving as a student has changed my life far more than past years. When we are able to focus in on one specific goal all year this is when a difference can be made, this is when we can truly become the person we’ve always wanted to be.