The Best Educational Advice by Nina

The Best Educational Advice by Nina - May 2014 Scholarship Essay

I have been given many different pieces of educational advice. However, the best piece of advice I have ever been given was that my education was all in my hands. This has helped me for many reasons. The first and foremost is the knowledge that I could not blame my teachers for my mistakes.

Almost every day, I see that students who are failing blame the teachers for their problems. "Well, he did not teach me enough," or "she does not care if I fail or not". This knowledge given to me by my mother when I was homeschooled in seventh through ninth grade helped me realize that it does not matter. If there is something I am not understand because of the teacher, there are many ways to gain this information- from the internet to even just asking the teacher after school.

I have also learned because of this saying that just because I do not like a particular teacher, that does not mean that I should do things to hurt my grade in an effort to mess with them. If anything, that makes it easier for the teacher. My refusal to do work gives them less papers to grade. Though in my high school, they might care about me and try to help me, in college they would not care nearly as much.

For example, I have just finished my college Zoology class. It did not take me long to realize that while in my high school, if I complain that I ran out of time they will give me another few days, my college teacher would not accept that. If I did not turn it in on time, I would lose points or just not get the grade at all.

I think this had helped me a lot. Without the advice I had been given by my mother, I do not think that I would be nearly as good at my schooling as I am now. Every time I feel like procrastinating or not doing a piece of work, my mother's saying would cross in my mind and I would get started on my work.