Life Changing Elective by Pauline

Life Changing Elective by Pauline - September 2017 Scholarship Essay

One elective that I have taken was AP Human Geography. I was in 9th grade, and coming into high school, it was the first elective and AP class that I took. I was taught by my teacher, Mr. Tran, who was a retired Navy officer and former UCLA college professor in Master Writing. His class was rigorous. I would have to read a section of the textbook and write an essay every night. In the morning of most school days, class would start off with a short timed quiz, testing us on the materials we supposedly read the night before. My class would have a chapter test consisting of a hundred questions every Friday because we would finish a chapter every week.
Before coming into high school, I did not read or write that much. So as a student who was unskilled in reading and writing, I struggled a lot in class for the first few months. It took me 4 hours to read through a section because I was not used to the font size and wordy pages. Afterwards, it took me three and a half hours to finish homework because I was not only a slow writer, but I also lacked eloquence. As a freshman, I came into high school taking one of the most rigorous AP classes. It was tough, but the class trained me to work hard. By the end of the year, I was able to read 20 textbook pages in an hour and do homework (writing an essay) in 45 minutes. When the AP exam came near, I attended all the AP study halls and took multiple practice tests before the actual exam. I ended up getting a 4 on the AP exam.
Compared to my Human Geography class, all my other general classes seemed easy to me because the workload was not as abundant. I graduated 9th grade with a 4.2 GPA, and I was ranked number one in the Top 5 Freshmen in the 2015 Academic Prep Rally. I would have never thought I was capable of achieving straight A’s in high school. I used to be a B and C student. I knew that even though I was not the smartest person, hard work made up a lot. Therefore, I continued to persevere throughout my 10th and 11th grade. I juggled my academics and also played in the school’s basketball team. My overall GPA turned out to be a 4.1 (including 9th, 10th and 11th grade).
I am now a 12th grader. I am not the smartest person. However, that first elective I have taken in my first year in high school will be unforgettable. My attitude towards school has ultimately changed because of that class. I will continue to work hard and graduate with at least a 4.0 GPA. This attitude will carry me through college and through life.