Speedbump by Jenna

Speedbump by Jenna - June 2016 Scholarship Essay

Growing up, I was always encouraged to do my best in school. This encouragement led me to develop a “perfectionist” personality where nothing but an “A” was acceptable to me. My academic struggle involves a time where I did not quite hit that mark on a math test in my Pre-Calculus Honors class in my junior year of High School.

My grades are very important to me because I am striving to be Valedictorian, like my older sister, when I graduate in 2017. Every test, assignment, project, and review can affect my GPA, and GPA is what matters to obtain the Valedictorian award. On this particular occasion, I received a 65% on my math group test, dropping my grade from an A+ to a C+. As the perfectionist I am, I freaked out! The only other chance I had to raise my grade was our individual test we were going to take a few weeks from that point. My only hope was to do extremely well on the upcoming test.

What I did not mention was that I did not study for the test I scored a 65% on. I was under the assumption that I was smart enough to not study, that I would be fine since I got good grades in math all my life. This was a huge wake-up call to me in my academic life. I overcame this academic struggle by disciplining myself to study for every test I have, even if it is for a subject that I excel at. As a result of this speed bump in my schooling, I have learned that I cannot expect good grades without putting in work. Studying may seem tedious and unnecessary, but it pays off on the big test day. From that struggle, I now find myself studying for everything. Whether it is a simple quiz, or the SAT test, I have learned that studying will produce the perfectionist results that I am shooting for.