New Year, New Student. by Jeffrey

New Year, New Student. by Jeffrey - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

During this New Year I have come to the idea that I must improve in how I take on school on a da to day basis. I sat down with myself and really brainstormed on what I have lacked on as a student or what habits that must be broken before going into my freshmen ear in college, and I have concluded that there are 5 things I must do in order to be successful.
First of all, before I get into the meat of m problems I have to start with the fact that I have to come to class prepared. Yes, even though getting up is probably the hardest part, but I lost track of the times that I have come to school and forgot my pencils, m books, or even my backpack. This means I must get into the habit of getting my materials ready in the morning and put my backpack by the door so I don’t have to scramble to get everything ready in a rush, and most importantly so I don’t forget it in the morning. Being prepared in the aspect of materials is only 40% of it though. I must be mentally prepared which means I need to learn to go to bed at a decent time and eat something for breakfast in order to wake up refreshed and read for the day.
Although being ready has been a big problem, my biggest problem that I am trying so hard to break would have to be procrastination on my assignments and projects. When I was younger I had no problem with this “disease” but as I got older and started hanging out with friends and it became a huge problem for me because I was always in advance classes but my friends weren’t which meant that I always had a greater work load than them, which to me at the time I did not factor in. My friends would get done with their homework and go to the mall or go to each other’s houses which in m eyes I didn’t want to miss out on anything so I always told myself that I would just finish my work later at night which by that time I was tired so I said I would do it when I got home the next day (the trend never stopped)… long story short I would scramble to finish assignment the day before they were due, or I would be late on assignments because I would lose track of when other assignments were due, which will not fly in college as I have been told. In order to beat this habit, I must stay organized , keep a planner, write things down, never leave my room until its finished, and don’t let my friends be a distraction to my work.
As a future student in college I must think of the long haul later in life and have a plan for what I want to do in the future early in college, and to do so I must apply for internships so I can graduate and now where to go afterwards. I must gain work experience while in school which might mean that I have to take a part time job instead of a full time one in order to take the work load of school and internship throughout the week… I know this will not benefit me as a student, but this was one of my new year’s resolutions.
Another thing I must do in order to improve in schooling and maybe in the future after college is networking myself to school mates, teachers, and others in my major. I must learn to become friends with my classmates in a professional sense so we could possibly form successful study groups and carry it on to the class room. I also must become friends with my professors, as the might give me a higher understanding of my major or maybe even share their outer connections with me in the realm of m future career and land me a good job after college. During these crucial ears, I must keep my presence professional whether it is on social media or just in everyday interactions because nobody knows what future employers might be looking for in their future employees.