Humility by Jessica

Humility by Jessica - February 2017 Scholarship Essay

The moment I walked into the classroom, I knew something was wrong. My History teacher, Mr. Gregory, had an extraordinary talent for bringing history to life. He made a soldier who died at the Battle of Stalingrad, seem like a brother to me. He gave me an appreciation for human life and inspired me to not let the casualties of war slip through history. I looked up to him not only as an educator but also as a human being.
So as I took my seat that day in my European History class, I could see in Mr. Gregory’s eyes that we had deeply hurt him. He sternly said, “I have never been more disappointed”. My heart sunk as he explained how nearly seventy five percent of all the students in his class had cheated on a simple assignment. What Mr. Gregory got back, were hundreds of identical worksheets. I had allowed classmates to copy my work, I had broken a code of integrity that I pride myself in. I had disregarded his years of work as a trivial assignment. I had forgotten my compassion, and was blinded by my own self-interest. I had lost the respect of a teacher who has only ever desired success for me.
It was a lesson in humility. We were so focused on our own worlds that we forgot to listen to the voices of others. Mr. Gregory was brave enough to show a vulnerable part of him in that power point, and I was too busy worrying about getting those ten points that I could not see the worth in the assignment. I half-heartedly completed the assignment and let others copy my work. Not only was I cheating myself, but it was severely cheating them as well. I did no service to these kids by giving them my answers. I only continued a cycle of dishonest behavior and laziness. This was not the student I wanted to become. And I was determined to take responsibility for my carelessness.
I was determined to make right my wrong. I told him that I was deeply sorry for my selfish behavior and I promised I would take the wisdom that is graciously offered to me and treat it with the utmost respect.
I am grateful for Mr. Gregory, because he forced me to confront an issue and demanded that I deal with the repercussions. I do not regret helping my peers. I know that teaching my peers is often times the best way to go about learning new information. But the way in which I decided to “help” them was what caused the problem in the first place. I allowed them to copy off my work because I knew that all they needed was to get the assignment done. But if I had had the maturity and intelligence to see the value in that assignment I could have taken advantage of the insight my teacher was giving me and allowed my classmates to do the same. I could have turned my peer’s desire for help into a discussion that would have brought individual insight and unique perspectives to the topic. But I chose the easy way out and quickly grasped the wrong in my decision.
In an ironic end to my experience, Mr. Gregory’s published book arrived at my doorstep a couple of days ago. Seamlessly crafted and heartbreakingly intimate, this book has opened my eyes to the true tragedy of war. War that rips away sons from their mothers. War that forces a small town like Arroyo Grande into the very center of the battlegrounds. War that forces a generation of teenagers, just like myself, to fade into oblivion. I was able to discover these concepts while reading his book because I intended to keep my promise, that I would never again allow a piece of someone’s life to become “just another assignment”.