The Path to Exponential Growth by Jesslyn

The Path to Exponential Growth by Jesslyn - December 2020 Scholarship Essay

“And the ideology held in this time period by the government actually shaped the beliefs of the population to reflect the same ideas!” exclaimed my humanities professor in the most animated voice he could muster, his eyes bright with excitement for the themes of modern Western humanities. However, in spite of his enthusiasm and best efforts, he simply could not interest around ninety percent of his two-and-a-half-hour Wednesday night class. While an interested and thoughtful mask of expression rested permanently on my face, I unfortunately fell into the large percentage of disinterested and disengaged students. My mind wandered to my slowly approaching dinner and weekend plans with my best friend. Although I enjoy history and humanities, I was tired and hungry after a long day and simply wanted to eat some shrimp gumbo (a rare appearance on the cafeteria menu) and return to my dorm room to finish my homework. In this state of mind, I relinquished any effort to pay attention to my enthusiastic professor, promising myself I would look over the lecture slides later. While I passed the class with flying colors that semester, I wonder how much more knowledge I could have gained if I had paid more attention and gone into class every day with the intention of learning and applying the principles taught instead of simply learning the material to perform well on a test. In pondering this question, I have decided to claim a New Year’s resolution of intentional applied learning and consequent growth in my education.

While I have consistently excelled in academics, I rarely practice applying the concepts I learn outside the classroom. I learn and memorize the material being taught, regurgitate it on exams and assessments, then put it away in my memory in case I need it again for another class or standardized tests. While I possess a sharp memory and can recall much information I have learned in the past, I rarely take the opportunity to do so unless necessity calls for such action.

However, if I internalized and applied the concepts I learn to my own life, I know I would excel much farther and faster in my academic and career goals, as well as in my personal growth and maturity. Every course required to obtain my degree is beneficial and necessary in my pursuit of a career as an elementary school teacher. I should therefore apply myself fully to every class I attend, internalizing the information taught for use in other courses, internship and career opportunities, and life overall.

What if, for example, I took the concepts I learned from my oral communication class last semester concerning self-awareness, communication styles, and leadership methods and applied these concepts in my day-to-day life? I would monitor how my actions affect those around me and be attentive to how they perceive my intentions. I would be more gracious and understanding toward others in recognizing their unique and varying communication styles. I would maximize my influence with leadership tactics in both academic and vocational spheres. These actions taken from concepts learned in class would exceptionally benefit my relationships with others and develop skills needed for success in my future career as a teacher. If all these gains could be derived from applying and internalizing the information taught in one general education course, imagine how much more could be gained if I endeavored to do the same in all of my courses this coming year.

For these reasons, I am determined and enthused to undertake my New Year’s resolution of applying myself fully to all my courses in order to implement the concepts I learn in my personal life and career. I aspire to take advantage of my college courses by deriving from them a product worthy of the money and time I have put into them. I am not attending college simply to earn a degree, but to grow into a fully educated, knowledgeable, well-rounded individual who is proficient to excel in my chosen career and life goals. In order to arrive at this end result, I will be in pursuit of this New Year’s resolution for the rest of my college career. I anticipate undergoing exponential growth in all areas of my life and endeavors.