You Can't Make it Without the Effort by Karina

You Can't Make it Without the Effort by Karina - August 2016 Scholarship Essay

OnRamps English also called The Rhetoric of American Identity was the most challenging academic course that I have taken in my highschool career. It is a University of Texas course given to high school students for a chance to receive both college and high school credit. It taught me various skills that I will need in the future of both my academic career and life in general.
When deciding to take this course I thought it would be easy, mainly because all throughout school my grades were considered “excellent” with having all A’s and having always completed my homework and turned assignments in on time. My english teacher recommended me for this class since I had always proved myself to be an adequate candidate for it.
Going into the class, my teacher assured us that it would not be easy, because college isn’t easy. She even described one of her own stories about how in highschool she wasn’t the best student. As college started she was forced to change her habits and ended up graduating with honors but she commented that it would be different for us, because we had always expected our good grades to come easy. I blew her comment off, feeling prepared for what was to come. Soon enough, her warning proved to be correct. I had almost failed the first six weeks and it wasn’t for not turning assignments in on time but because of the time and effort I didn’t put into them. I realized that if I wanted to excel in this course I had to work harder.
As the year progressed, I learned many skills and picked up on many tips that will, in the future, help me improve my grade in this course. Including but not limited to; time management, organization, resilience and motivation. Time management is extremely important when balancing life and school. Knowing your priorities and setting time aside to complete them is key to have a more organized life as well. Being resilient is also something very important that I learned throughout school, not beating yourself up over a bad grade but instead getting up, looking at what you have to improve and doing it better the next time, it’s how you learn. Motivation is also a very important asset to getting through this course and life as well. Keeping in mind your goals and what you want to achieve was how I made my way through this course. I now apply myself more in everything I do because of these skills that I learned.
Onramps English also taught me a lot about what to expect from college. Of course, each class is different but I now have a general idea of what I will be facing. I learned to always hand in my best work, on time. I learned to manage time better, the workload wasn’t much but knowing that even if an assignment is due weeks from the date that they were presented, not to procrastinate. Now as I am going into my senior year, I am watching out for myself, my study habits and my work habits. Some of my classes will be rigorous, others will be less intense, but I have to put the same amount of effort into each of my classes and set time aside for different assignments and projects. I believe that going into college I will be much better prepared having taken the Onramps English course.