Raise Your Level by Jennifer

Raise Your Level by Jennifer - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

In my middle school, I always thought that I was a very intellectual student because I was always at the top of all my classes. Lessons that my teachers taught were easy to understand and apply. Since that was the case, I was under the impression that high school would be no different. I was convinced that there would be no obstacles to face and I would just breeze on by through those next four years until college. It took my ninth grade Pre-AP geometry teacher, Mrs. Morales, for me to realize that nothing was that simple.

I walked into that geometry classroom on the first day of school, fully confident that I was going to own that class. When Mrs. Morales stood in front of the classroom and explained how rigorous and challenging this course was, I was not fazed. However, once she went behind her podium and started to lecture us on our first lesson, all of my self-assurance slowly drained out of my body. The more she went into detail about the lesson, the more lost I felt, but everyone else in the class seemed to comprehend the lesson perfectly. When she was done with the lesson, she handed out a homework assignment on what we learned that day and I had no clue how to solve any of the problems. It was the first time in my life where I felt inadequate. After school, I spent the rest of the day trying to make sense of the lesson and complete my assignment, but every answer I wrote down seemed wrong. I kept getting distracted by the thought that maybe I was not as smart as I thought I was.

The next day, I went to Mrs. Morales’ room with the intention of transferring out of the course to a regular math class. I figured I was not cut out for this advanced class. However, Mrs. Morales did not give me a transfer paper. Instead, she sat me down on one of the student desks and asked me why I wanted to switch classes. I told her about how I used to think of myself as a good student in my middle school, but after yesterday’s lesson I was disappointed in myself and my abilities because I did not understand the lesson. I spoke of me relentlessly trying to grasp the lesson and only coming up defeated. Once I was done talking, Mrs. Morales told me one of the greatest lessons that I have ever learned. She said, “Good shouldn’t ever be good enough. There should always be room to step up your game so you can continue to grow as a student and as an individual.” She then asked me about what I did not understand about the lesson and helped me on my assignment. I understood it perfectly.

After that day, I learned to apply myself more to my studies and be the best that I can be. Mrs. Morales taught me that at each new turning point in my life, I need to raise my level to face life head on. We should never settle for where we are now, but keep striving for better.