My Academic Refinement by Marissa

My Academic Refinement by Marissa - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

One thing I plan on improving on for this next year is my time management. I have always been studious and have cared immensely about my precious 4.0 GPA. My junior year, I was getting so swamped with everything I had to participate in for sports that a couple of my A’s started to become B’s. This was a huge wakeup call me for me when I got my transcript back in the mail. I no longer had straight A’s. I started to reflect on my time management skills and re-evaluate my priorities. Right then and there I decided to make my schoolwork come first in 2016. I realized why the word “student” comes before “athlete” and why setting aside time for homework and studying is a necessity.
I started to see the bigger picture that my academics would take me further in life than my athletics ever could. I would rather have my academics define my future, rather than athletics. I now put school first in my life once again, and I’ve never looked back. I don’t regret all the hours I spend studying instead of on the practice field. I see more payout in my grades and in the amount I’ve learned than in sports competitions. I’m very optimistic about this resolution for the rest of the semester and into my freshman year as well! In my future I never want to look back and say that I wish I would have put more effort into my school work. After the turning point in my junior year, I realized how many of my peers were placing athletics before their schoolwork just like myself. If all student athletes would use equal amount of time studying for their classes as they did with their sports teams, America would be building not only better athletes, but better students as well. I think that time management in relation to academics is the more effective New Year’s resolution that will help me to become the best student I can be in 2016.