New Year’s Resolution: My Top Priority by Renee

New Year’s Resolution: My Top Priority by Renee - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

Prioritizing, by definition, is to organize (things) so that the most important thing is done or dealt with first. I became familiar with this word at a very young age, but I am still in the process of putting it into action. When I attended elementary school, my mom would tell me to start with the simple homework then continue on to the difficult homework. One of the first people I always go to for advice is my mom, but I did not listen to her in this situation. I decided to start with the heavy load, and feel the weight lifted off my soldiers as I continued onward. That strategy seemed to work when I was younger, but began to fail me as I entered high school.
Just like any other freshman student, I was in the process of making new friends. I wanted to talk to them every second of the day, even after school. This interrupted my homework time, and my entire system began to collapse. Beginning the hardest assignment first would leave me with a plentiful amount of incomplete homework. Even then, the hardest assignment was still incomplete because I spent half of the time on my phone. I was too tired to continue working, so I would wake up early the next morning and attempt to complete my assignments before class. Then there were other days when I would remember my mother’s words years ago, and begin working on the simple homework assignments first. This, too, did not help as I was left with little energy at night to begin the difficult portion of my homework. Either way, I was left with some sort of incomplete homework because I spent most of my time on my phone.
This all would have been prevented if I had realized where I went wrong. It did not matter if I started my evening with the simple or difficult homework; rather, despite my decision I needed to give 100% effort in each assignment. I needed to silence my phone, and give my undivided attention to the task at hand. This is my New Year’s resolution: to give full effort into what matters. I am proud to say that I have learned the value of effort, and my grades have improved each year of high school. Now it is my senior year, and I plan to continue this streak. I have three study halls throughout my schedule, so there is no excuse for lackadaisical grades on my part. I have no problem talking to my friends after my homework is complete because I know they feel the same way. As a high school student, prioritizing is the key to success, and I have come to know that. With discipline, I plan to prioritize more efficiently and prepare myself for college. I will make this New Year’s resolution a habit, and not a resolution that is thrown out the window halfway through the year.