Equal and Opposite Reaction by Emily

Equal and Opposite Reaction by Emily - December 2024 Scholarship Essay

I never struggled with science much until I reached chemistry class my sophomore year. Even though the subject involved a lot of math, it was hard for me to grasp each lesson. For most quizzes and tests we took I would hope I would remember the material I studied and the equations that I practiced many times. Even though in other science classes I found them easy, I did poorly in the chemistry labs. No matter how much I stared at the papers hoping that everything would make sense, I could not get the hang of what everyone else found relatively easy. If I understood the lesson at the beginning, I would quickly get left behind. I was struggling and trying to keep up with everyone else and this started to affect how I viewed myself as a student. I believed that there was something wrong with me because I could never understand what we were learning. This had never happened to me before so my self-worth started to crumble. Although it was hard, I decided to ask for help one-on-one with my teacher.
I have never been one to ask for help because it makes me feel as though I did not earn what I achieved. I was also afraid that I would be bothering teachers and taking time out of their day by asking for help. But I knew that the only way I was going to improve was to reach out. So I started going to my teacher for help every chance I had. I would approach her about questions I had from the notes we went over and I stepped out of my comfort zone by telling her when I still did not understand. I frequently asked her to look over my labs before I turned them in because she was willing do so. Before tests I would reread and rewrite my notes to better retain the information and my grades started to reflect this. Because of my efforts I started getting the high grades that I was used to getting. These grades were more special to me because of how much I worked for them. I felt like I accomplished a lot when I would see the 90 in the gradebook and it helped me to regain my confidence in myself.
From this experience I learned valuable things like study habits that best suit me and the importance of asking for help when I need it. Overall, I learned that I should not let my grades in a class determine my self-worth. It does not matter so much what I score on an assignment but rather what I do to reach a high score or improve after a low one. At the end of the day, my effort and resilience are what truly define me as a person.