Learning Latin Leads to Life Lessons by Madison

Learning Latin Leads to Life Lessons by Madison - July 2021 Scholarship Essay

As I sat in my Latin classroom my first day of ninth grade, I knew that I was in over my head, causing me to question why I wanted to go to a new school. At this school, the students begin to learn Latin in the third grade. This was not good news for me since I had never taken Latin before, causing me to be six years behind my fellow peers. As a perfectionist when it comes to schoolwork, I expected to excel in Latin without thinking that I was learning a new language that is not even used in our modern day society.
In the summer going into my freshman year, I was given a Latin workbook that I could get a head start in so that I might be familiar with the language before beginning school. After spending weeks on the workbook, I felt confident that Latin would be a breeze. This was before walking into Latin class that first day of school. After class I realized that perhaps Latin would be more challenging than I had first expected, but I still thought that I would be able to independently learn and understand the language. A week after school began, we took our first quiz- which I failed. I went in for after school tutoring, had a conference with my teacher so that he could understand how to better help me, and studied for hours each week while dreading each Friday when we had our quiz. However, I still failed or made Cs on the quizzes and tests, something that I was not used to doing. I was mad at myself for thinking that I had not studied enough when in reality I tried my best. I was also envious of those who had been taking Latin for six years and easily made one hundreds on each quiz that they took. After months of struggling through Latin, I was put into deeper distress when my teacher handed us our review sheet for our Latin fall semester final- a review that was multiple pages long with countless vocabulary words and Latin paradigms that we had to memorize on it. When I made a D on this final, I realized that it was time to stop being constantly independent and that I had to get out of my comfort zone. This came in many forms, such as studying with my peers before quizzes or tests. I went on to make an A- during that school term in Latin. I began to feel more confident when the spring final came up but was soon disappointed when I made a D on this final as well.
Looking back on my year of exhausting Latin, I have come to realize a few things. First of all, asking for help is a good thing to do when I am unable to do things on my own. Secondly, I learned that nobody is automatically good at everything- being good at something takes time and patience. Lastly, I learned that even though I struggled my way through Latin and earned the final grade of a B in the class, I had tried my best throughout the course which was all that I could do. This was an unexpected lesson for me- that life lessons which a person learns matter more in the long run than a perfect grade. Latin- thank you for challenging me even on the days when I wanted to give up. I will forever remember the lessons that you taught me.