Everything Matters by Sierra

Everything Matters by Sierra - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

On the road to attending a university, students meet a lot of teachers along the way. Some seem to give way too much homework, while others not enough. Some display a passion for their subject and for teaching the youth, while others seem like the paycheck is the only reason they stay. Throughout my journey, I was fortunate enough to have three teachers in completely different fields that taught me one very valuable lesson. In an eclectic variety of subjects, I was taught to always pursue excellence, instead of accepting mediocrity.
The first teacher to ever drill this lesson into my head, was none other than my orchestra teacher. My “all-knowing” freshman self couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of anyone taking an elective so seriously, but over the years I had realized that the adults around me certainly have some knowledge to share, and I best soak it all in before I have to pay to hear it from college professors. By pursuing excellence as a violinist, I was able to greatly improve my playing skills, and find myself in the front of the orchestra. I practiced far more often than ever before, and discovered that I was capable of playing more challenging pieces of music which revealed my passion for being a part of an ensemble.
After I began to better myself as a violinist, I started noticing when other teachers were having me do the same in their classes as well, and I definitely noticed when teachers didn’t care if I bettered myself. In my early AP classes, I was able to skate by with busy work, never thinking it was a big deal. However, in my junior year of high school I had an AP English teacher that pushed me to improve my writing skills. I learned to use the constructive criticism and low timed-writing scores to improve my writing throughout the year. My teacher never returned an essay to me without a comment on how to improve it, and that taught me that even at my best I should try to be better.
For many years, I knew that “my best” was not in math. Until I was a junior, none of the faculty believed I was capable of succeeding in honors math, despite performing well in regular classes. But in my senior year, I took AP Calculus (against their advice) and had a teacher who never let me fall too far behind. I learned to study long hours, go in for help, and do anything else I could to get an honest A in the class, and to prove to myself that everyone who doubted me was wrong. The class was a great experience that prepared me well for college, and taught me that putting in hard work does pay off. Pushing myself to take a challenging math class was very frightening, but I refused to accept mediocrity in it simply because the course was more challenging.
Many people look back on high school and think of negative experiences, but I am able to reflect on how much my teachers taught me in the classroom, and about life. I am thankful that I was able to learn the lesson of treating everything as if it matters, because in truth...it does. The idea of accepting mediocrity is what keeps kids from gaining confidence in their own skill set, and discourages them from working hard and being mindful of the world around them. I still have many years to go in my education, but I know that I have valuable lessons as tools to guide me through to the finish line, and I will rise to the challenge just as I did in my high school career.