Learning Makes a Difference by Micaela

Learning Makes a Difference by Micaela - March 2014 Scholarship Essay

Since I was a child, I was always taught to try my hardest and give my all in everything that I did. When I became school-aged, this same thought carried right over into my learning. Unlike most children, I had a much different start to my education because I originally was home-schooled. As many can imagine this is quite different than going to a regular school like most kids. However, I would not trade my days of being home-schooled for anything. In fact, being home-schooled inspired me and allowed me to excel in my learning. This then eventually allowed me to achieve my greatest academic achievement of skipping a grade.

One of the reasons I feel so blessed to have been in home-school is because it taught me to not focus on the grades, rather focus on learning. While being home-schooled, there never really was a time that grades were important or even a thing. In most cases, I would learn something and then keep improving on it until I understood it further. Yes, this is almost exactly like grades, but there never was the pressure to get an A or anything like that. There was just the urge to learn and improve if I did not get something right. I believe that this has shaped me to be the kind of person that I am today. Learning takes first priority over grades for me. To me, if you do not care about what you are learning, you cannot expect to receive a good grade. My mom would do interactive activities and we would go on trips to see different things so I could have hands-on learning opportunities. After a while of being home-schooled though, I became lonely and wanted the company of other kids. Thus, my mom enrolled me in a private school. At the time, I was the age of a third grader getting ready to go into fourth grade. However, I already knew most of what the fourth graders knew. Since I was so passionate about learning and always wanted to know more, I had exceeded the requirements of a third grader and passed into the fourth grade curriculum. So when I actually started at the school, I joined as a fifth grader, not a fourth grader.

Skipping a grade was a huge achievement in my eyes. It was like passing a level and moving up in the world, which made me ecstatic. However there were definitely challenges. All the material that was being taught to me was now at the level that I was ready to learn at. It was no longer going to be easy for me. But I felt prepared and like I was one of the kids. I felt no different other than my age since I was a whole year younger than everyone else. This proved to be difficult for me sometimes especially when other people would hit milestone birthdays like their fourteenth and sixteenth birthdays. I would be stuck with waiting a whole extra year to celebrate. After a while though, I realized that it did not matter. Here I am a year younger than everyone in my grade, and I am in my first year of college. I went into my first year of college as a seventeen year old and will finish the academic year barely eighteen. I feel like this has given me strength and the confidence to excel in everything that I do. I no longer feel like I don’t quite belong, but rather I think it is kind of cool that I am younger and yet can still do well in college. It’s awesome how age does not play a role in my education and many of my older friends even come to me for help and advice with schoolwork. Skipping a grade taught me that you can accomplish anything that you set your mind to. All it takes is hard work, perseverance, and dedication. Being a year younger does not hinder me, it just reminds me to keep showing how hard I am willing to work to succeed in life.