2016, Here I Come by Rachel

2016, Here I Come by Rachel - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

“A new year, a new me!”, we all claim in that first week of January; but by the time we reach the second week, nothing has changed except the dates on our papers. The New Year’s resolution, that I will stand by until 2017, that will help me academically to become a better student in 2016: to actively participate in my classes. Coming into the last full year I will spend in high school, I want to learn as much as I possibly can, by raising my hand more than I have in the past, to ask and answer questions and help me get over my fear of being wrong in front of my peers.

It should be noted that I often have many questions in my classes, but rarely do I ask. With this resolution, I should force myself to get the answers to my questions and gain the knowledge I have been missing out on. As a child I was always very shy in my classes and my only complaint at conferences was “I wish she would raise her hand more.” This has been a personal issue since kindergarten, and it is time for me to fix it in 2016.

Furthermore, by actively responding to my teachers and answering my questions will help me know if I understand the material. There’s no use being in a class that I’m not learning in, especially in Advanced Placement classes, which the majority of my classes are, I need to be sure that I know everything in order to pass the upcoming test, and in the grand scheme of things- the end exam. Only good things can come from understanding the course material, not only in the class at hand, but also in other classes in highschool and future classes in college.

Additionally, there is a concern with the fact that I am a student who is intimidated by her peers and teachers. The main reason I don’t usually raise my hand, even in kindergarten, was that I didn’t know if I was right. I don’t take well to rejection or the embarrassment of being wrong. The first time I had a teacher call on me when I wasn’t raising my hand, was in seventh grade. She asked me to tell her the answer to a basic multiplication fact, and I gave her the wrong answer, because I was so nervous. Thinking of it now, I still cringe; I want to go back and say, “Everyone, I know the answer to 4 x 4, trust me I do- it’s not 12. It’s 16.” Year by year I have gotten much better with accepting being wrong, or not knowing the answer, but there is always room for improvement.
Conclusively, I hope to improve my ability to participate actively in my classes in this next year. By doing so, I hope to thoroughly understand the course material, and get the answers to what I want to know. I shouldn’t let my learning suffer because I am afraid of being wrong. This will be my best year educationally, 2016 here I come.