things I failed at but tried by Sheila

things I failed at but tried by Sheila - February 2017 Scholarship Essay

The time I failed at something was when I started learning how to ride a bike. My dad set me on my bike and pushed me to add more speed. After pushing me, he let go of the bike and watched me ride. The bike started to wobble and I fell. I cried throwing and kicking at my bike until my dad told me, “In order to get better you must get back on and try again.” And so I did, I got back on the bike and tried again, and again and again until I was able to ride without falling. After I was able to ride then he took off the training wheels and held the handles as I paddle. After a while he let go again of course the bike wobbled again and I feel again. I wanted to cry and kick my bike again but remembered that I can’t give up cause if I do I won’t be able to know how to ride the bike on my own. I have to keep trying even though I might fall.
When I was in elementary I tend to fail in math because of how hard it was. When the teacher start teaching us a new topic in math I don’t ask questions because I felt embarrassed and dumb so when I don’t understand I would shut down and let myself fail the class. Most of the teachers would think that I’m slow because I never did it the way they wanted me to do it. I felt dumb myself because I noticed that everyone except me understood what the teacher taught us. My parents told me that I was smart enough to understand the math I just needed to practice and start asking questions for now on if I don’t understand. My dad who is great in math started helping me with my homework and practicing different math problems with my dad. I started asking questions not caring what the students thought about it. Math started getting a little easier even though I was still failing but the teacher and my parents knew that I was actually trying this time instead of giving up and failing on purpose. When I hit middle school year I was getting nervous knowing that the math is going to get harder so I gave up again shutting myself down again. My math teacher became patient with me and started helping step by step making sure I understand the problem that way I am able to do it on my own. I went to tutoring everyday so I can understand more about the math problem and learn new strategies. When I hit high school year I was afraid that I might fail at algebra but I remembered that it's ok to fail as long as I tried that’s what mattered the most. I chose to go to honors algebra but ended up failing so my parents put me in an on level class. When I went to on level things began to become much easier through the semester. When report cards came out I made a B in the class which showed that I was making progress. I started feeling more confident in myself in the class and I started practicing more to get an A in the class, on my test I made C’s and B’s which I never got on a math test before. When report cards came out I finally gotten an A in the class and I didn’t feel dumb anymore and the teachers and my parents were proud of me. Keep trying and not throw a fit when I can’t get it right