How Proper Work Ethic Got me to be the Student I am Now by Madison

How Proper Work Ethic Got me to be the Student I am Now by Madison - August 2023 Scholarship Essay

Going into high school I had just learned to take my education seriously during the end of my eighth grade year. With an abnormal start to high school, I slowly learned about the importance of my education, with the help of my family, and started getting A’s in the grade book! Now I don’t entirely remember my middle school report cards, but I do know that I would receive a lot of D’s and E’s on assignments and sometimes even assessments. Those grades did not occur because I was struggling and didn’t understand the material, I just never cared enough to try. It wasn’t until I learned the proper work ethic that those D’s and E’s became A’s.
Learning the proper work ethic took some time, and definitely was a struggle for a girl that used to come home from school, hangout with friends, and then go to bed not even touching her book bag until it was time for school the next day. In a way, the pandemic kind of helped me because the only thing to do was my schoolwork. Although the workload was definitely easier during the pandemic, it was a stepping stone for the student that I now am. The student I am now is never late to class, never misses an assignment, completes all assignments to the best of my abilities, actually studies for tests and quizzes, and is taking higher level/college courses going into my senior year! The student I am now is applying to the colleges that I am interested in without worrying about my grades not meeting the requirements. The student I am now can balance sports, work, friends, family, and other activities while still keeping my grades intact. The student I am now can tell herself no when she has a lot of homework to do and someone wants to hangout.
If I had not learned the proper work ethic at the time that I did, who is to tell if I would even be going to college. If I were to go to college, who is to tell if I actually completed the homework? I would have to hold myself accountable, and if I didn’t learn the proper work ethic, I don’t think I would be able to.
Looking into my future goals, becoming a veterinarian has been one since I could walk. If I continued going down the path I was on in middle school, I don’t think I would ever become a veterinarian, and my parents told me that as well. The student I am now can see her future as a veterinarian and the impact she is going to make.
I could not have achieved this work ethic without the support from my parents. They told me no when I wanted to hangout with my friends rather than complete my homework because I wasn’t able to. They held me accountable for those missing assignments and made me turn them in late. They made me find any ounce of extra credit I could. They kept pushing me and pushing me because they knew I was better than those D’s and E’s. They believed in me, and that is the only way I became the student I am now.
Although there have been some late nights where I wished I was a student that didn’t care about their grades and I could go to bed as soon as I got home, learning the proper work ethic has to be my biggest achievement in my education, and those late nights always help out in the end anyways.