Seeking Help by Sayeda

Seeking Help by Sayeda - April 2019 Scholarship Essay

Throughout high school, there have been many challenging situations I have faced, both academically and non-academically. When it comes to school, I make sure it is my top priority to keep my grades up and not get distracted. You can’t let the things happening outside of school distract you and block your academic goals.
My school is split into four academies, each with a different pathway. Typically, we only have classes held in our own academy, unless we are recommended for a class that isn’t offered in our own academy. Sophomore year, I had been placed in a 90-minute honors Biology class that was in a different academy, the STEM academy. When I saw the class on my schedule, I had no idea it wasn’t in my academy, I just saw it as an advanced class I would be taking part in.
From the first day of class, I felt so out of place. Since I’m from a different academy, I had on a sky blue polo instead of the dark green STEM shirt. I was the outcast in the room. It didn’t help that I was shy either. Everyone turned their heads when I walked in, I’m sure they all thought I was a typical lost freshman walking into the wrong class. I never thought I would be so happy to get assigned seats.
We began the class by introducing ourselves, then we quickly jumped into the pretest. I was completely lost, it was as if the test was in a whole other language. The pretest consisted of multiple choice questions and an essay. Not knowing whether the pretest would count as a grade or not was what scared me the most. I didn’t want to start off the school year with an F and leave a bad impression on myself. In my head I kept asking myself, “Should I drop the class and just take regular Biology?”
As time went on, I came to the realization that many of the lessons we learned in class required us to have background knowledge in science, which everyone else had yet I lacked. For instance, for one of our lessons we had to dissect a frog. Most of the students in my class had done this their previous year, but I was completely clueless. Of course the teacher briefly told us what to do and assigned us a partner, but I still didn’t feel confident.
The girl that was assigned as my partner was really sweet and made me feel welcomed. She introduced herself and asked me if I had ever performed a dissection before. I kept thinking how I must seem like an intern at a doctor’s office. I decided that if I didn’t ask for the help now, I would never get it. So I asked her, “Would you mind going through the dissection step-by-step before we start?” Luckily she said yes and guided me through the dissection and let me do most of the work so I could get the full experience. I really appreciated her help and we soon began to get closer and closer. Throughout the course of the year, she helped me on my homework whenever I needed the help and we have built a strong friendship.
Just from being in that class and being put in a new environment, I learned that I shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help sometimes. In the end, everyone can use some help here and there and you can’t let your shyness hold you back.