There was never a time in my life where I did not make Principal’s List, Honor Roll, or Dean’s List (which was college). I got 6 B’s in college… and the rest were A’s. Why? Read below.
1. Whenever I was in school, I always wrote down when work was due and turned it in on time. It was never late. It was always complete, neat, and well thought out. I learned the importance of always doing my homework in elementary school.
2. Whenever I had a test, I drew pictures of what was on the test to help me to take it all… and I also thought of acronyms. For example, if I needed to remember the order of the planets, I remembered a saying for it- My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. Even when I had to remember something for science that didn’t have an acronym, I made one up.
3. I always listened to my teachers and tried to get to know them as people. I tried to write them at least one note during the year about why I appreciated them. One time, I even had a college teacher drive a friend and I to a great book sale because she cared about us, and I’ll never forget that because since then she has passed away. I knew it was not right to ever disrespect any of my teachers because they always tried their hardest and spent long hours in the classroom every day. They wanted the best for all their students.
4. I participated in discussions, and whenever I disagreed about something, I was not rude about it. I raised my hand and politely spoke to the class about why I had my certain beliefs. People are always entitled to their opinions.
5. [LISTEN!] Growing up, I failed tests. I even failed book reports. I thought I was brilliant sometimes, and I really didn’t know as half as much as I thought. Really, I could have done better! Yet I never pressured myself or especially gave up. My teachers never pressured me, either; they told me they knew I would do better next time! If you get a grade that is below what you expected, go back next time and give the test or project your all! What was important to me about projects was that I did more than the teacher asked, and most of the time I even got extra credit because I made my project something important for me to keep.
6. If I had a big test coming up that measured everything I knew for the year (like you have FCAT), I kept my notes from my classes and found ways for myself to relax. If I ever got really stressed out, I would go home and draw, read, run with my dog, listen to calming music, or just relax with my family. I didn’t want to let my teachers down when I took big tests, so I REALLY tried and went back to check my answers, once or twice.
7. Oh, I must tell you a story about checking answers. I was confident I did extremely well on a reading test in ninth grade, but when I went back to check my answers, I was appalled. Something didn’t seem right, so I changed some of my answers. There was this entire matching section I changed. When my teacher graded the test, I got… a 97!
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