A Mother's Inspiration by Katoria

A Mother's Inspiration by Katoria - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

The person who has inspired me the most when it comes to academics is my mother. From an early age, my mother instilled in me the old adage, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Even though she did not attend college, she always pushed me to do my best in all aspects of my life, including academically.

When I was in the first grade, I remember struggling to understand what was being taught in class. When my mother realized that I was having a hard time, she required me to bring home all of my school books every day. Even if I did not have homework, she still insisted that I bring them home anyway. As a young child I did not like doing this; I remember the stares and questions of the other students as they wondered why I would do such a thing when there was no homework.

Boggled down by the weight of my backpack, I remember the slow trudge to my mom’s van every day after school while the other students skipped merrily along. I hated being the only one that had to do this and would dread the bell at the end of the day.

Bringing my books home, my mother would go through each subject with me one by one. Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Religion, and Language Arts were all reviewed at home every single night. Despite the fact that my mother worked the night shift, she did not rest until she made sure that I grasped all the information from each subject. While my sisters would play and have fun, I had to be at the kitchen table relearning these subjects with my mom.

After a couple of weeks however, I started to notice that I better understood my teacher’s instruction. This was evident not only by the way I was able to follow along during class, but also by my grades. I went from receiving C’s, D’s, and sometimes even F’s to all A’s and B’s. This was because my mother worked with me every night with all of my class subjects to make sure I understood the material.

Even after I had drastically improved my grades, my mother wanted to make sure that I stayed on this track and still required that I bring home all of my books. This continued all throughout elementary, middle school, and part of junior high school.

However, as the material in junior high started to get more complicated, my mother’s ability to help me understand the material diminished. She did not remember a lot of the information from her own schooling and because of this, I had to lessen my reliance on her. By this time however, she had instilled in me the skills that I needed in order to succeed on my own. Through all of those years that my mother made me bring home all of my books, my mother taught me not only how to effectively study but also how to advocate for my education by asking questions.

These imperative skills carried me throughout my high school years and because of this, I graduated high school with an honors degree and a 3.8 grade point average. Without my mother’s teachings, I do not believe that I would have had the academic success that I have experienced. Without her assistance, I believe that I would have gotten frustrated with school and would not have a desire to pursue higher education. However, because she took the time to make sure I understood the class material as well as the importance of education, since a young age I have had the yearning to pursue a higher education as well as a yearning to help other youth understand the importance of academics.