Grasped Opportunities by Kristen

Grasped Opportunities by Kristen - November 2015 Scholarship Essay

Throughout my school career I have attended three different schools. By far, the school which I have learned the most from was my private school. This school is one that was, by far, the most difficult, but what might be the most difficult is sometimes the best for you. While I was attending this school I was taught to read better, write better, and study better. The qualities not only transfer throughout my school studies, they transfer throughout my life.
I have always been the kid who sought out a good adventure book, but I was never one to read anything about a historical figure. As soon as I went to this private school, the first thing they made me read was a novel about Benjamin Franklin. I hated it. I hated every single minute of reading this book. We had to continuously read autobiographies like this, so soon I started enjoying them. To this day, I do not mind going to the library and getting a book over some historical figure because I know there will be something in that book that I do not know, and it will benefit me in the future.
Within a month of attending this school they made me write a two page essay. It might not have been hard for some people, but to me this task was next to impossible. I was only in fourth grade so this essay, looking back, was not that hard. However, for a child that had never written an essay before, it was horrible. I got through this essay, the next one, and many more to follow. Now I can write a four page essay in an easy two hours. An essay like this might be extremely rough, but thanks to the training from this private school, I can finally do this with no problem.
Studying has always been my downfall. It is not that no one has taught me how to do this, it is just I never have been able to sit down for long periods of time. Luckily, because this private school was so small the teachers gave me one-on-one time. These teachers helped me to figure out several different ways to study that were not just sit down and read.
These skills are some of the skills that I will transfer throughout my life. I am incredibly thankful that these teachers have helped me through my school life. If it was not for the private school I went to, I know my school skills would not be near where they are today. Not only did my skills improve through school functions, but they also helped me throughout my life. Whether it was in my job or just in social situations, throwing a “big” word in always makes you look and feel just a little smarter. School is not just a place that the government throws students into to make them feel trapped. They send us to these schools to help us make the most out of our life. That is what I feel like I have been doing through these last several years.