How Following the Rules Made Me a Rule-Breaker by Lauren

How Following the Rules Made Me a Rule-Breaker by Lauren - June 2021 Scholarship Essay

We were all sitting on the floor watching our teacher read us a book. She had to leave the classroom for a moment. Her only instructions were to stay quiet. The moment her second leg reached the hallway floor, the class went from a barren desert to an overpopulated zoo.

A few students, including myself, said, "shhh," only making the noise louder.

I became so frustrated that no one was listening to my teacher's instructions. I had had enough. So, I took matters into my own hands.

I took a deep breath and yelled at the top of my lungs, "SHUT UP!"

Everyone looked at me in utter shock and silence. Immediately after my suggestion, my teacher was back in the room wondering who screamed at the top of their lungs. Everyone pointed at me. Immediately my teacher told me to grab my red folder so my teacher could sign it. The red folder was the rule of law in our classroom. You break the rules; my teacher marks your red folder. At the end of each day, we would show our parents to sign the red folder. This is just one instance where my rule-following tendencies caused me to break the rules and be disciplined by my teacher. It is now fifteen years later, and I still remember this moment vividly.

Getting disciplined nearly every day in kindergarten was not something I appreciated until recently. Discipline was my teacher's way of correcting my actions that broke the rules she had for the classroom. At that specific moment, I truly believed I was helping my teacher. I wanted everyone to stop talking because that was what my teacher told us. I failed to realize I was overstepping my boundaries as a student. I was not left in charge of the class while my teacher left the room. Had I not yelled at my classmates, then I would not have gotten in trouble. I cannot be in control even when I may want to be.

In the end, I have learned that it is okay to make mistakes. Any mistake is a foothold for education. My kindergarten teacher gave me many opportunities to learn, including attentively listening and being respectful of people who are talking. These lessons that I have learned have grown to become skills of mine fifteen years later. For this reason, I am very thankful for my kindergarten teacher.