The Phrase by Kara

The Phrase by Kara - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

Today’s the day. Ms. Eiring is handing back our grades for our projects. This project is a large percentage of our grade, but I know we did well. We followed the rubric but I can’t help but to feel nervous. The bell rings and Ms. Eiring starts class by walking around with the graded rubrics for each team. We all sit nervously and silently, moving our feet or tapping our fingers in anticipation of our grades.

“I’m going to hand back your rubrics to the project. If you have any questions, see me after class.”

I feel like she can sense the anxiousness in the room as she passes by each group, gently putting the rubrics facedown in the middle of each table. Each group studies their paper and some let out sighs of relief while others sink down in their seats. After what seems like ten minutes, she makes her way to our table and sets the paper down. I eagerly flip it over to see the big, red letter. F. How could we have failed this project? I can feel the weight of my body dragging me down as I show the paper to my group. They start to sink lower in their chairs, too.

“I know some of you did not do as well as you would’ve liked, so I am going to offer you corrections on this project. However, I am not allowing your grade to be higher than a C.”

A C on the largest project of the semester? My group agrees to do corrections on the project. The rest of class was miserable. Focusing on new material was extremely difficult because all I could think about was how my grade was going to suffer. Her sentences all seemed to run together.

The bell rang again. As papers shuffled and backpacks zipped, I made my way to her desk. I asked questions I did not want to hear the answers to, but I had to know why we failed in order to fix it. After the quick runthrough of what our group missed on the rubric and how we could improve our project, Ms. Eiring told me something I would carry with me throughout the rest of high school.

“You can’t expect to do the minimum to be scored the best.”

This phrase has never left my mind; in school, in work, and in life. Carrying this phrase around with me has helped me achieve my dreams and work hard towards new ones. Every time I cracked open the AP U.S. History textbook with a pen in my hand and sleep on my mind, I would remind myself that the harder I studied, the higher I would score. It paid off, as I received college credit as a sophomore. I took Ms. Eiring’s phrase with me to my first job interview, and I now happily work one of my dream jobs: shelving books at the local library. Hard work does not seem taxing anymore; all because of one, simple phrase.

The toughest, most memorable lesson I have learned in school was not about algebraic expressions or the Roman empire. Rather, I learned that to be my best, I have to do my best. With Ms. Eiring’s phrase in my back pocket, we received a C on the group project. But I received much more than a higher grade. Unlike one grade freshman year, opportunities to apply the phrase keep reappearing in my life. It has inspired me to give my all, because by giving everything I have, I am showing everything I am. Thank you, Ms. Eiring.