As to Ds by Rachel

As to Ds by Rachel - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

I have always excelled in English class. From the beginning of school until eighth grade I rarely received lower than an A on any writing projects. Then I had Mr. Heifetz.

Mr. Heifetz was said to be the toughest English teacher at Farquhar Middle School. Alumni from his class solemnly wished incoming eighth grade English students good luck- they’d never survive with a grade higher than a C. As a naive, overconfident middle schooler, I barely heeded these cautions. In fact I looked forward to the challenge- all my previous classes were far too easy, finally I would have a chance to test my skills.

On our first day of class, each student handed in their summer reading projects. Mr. Heifetz promised to have them back to us as soon as possible, and immediately launched into his first lesson. No introduction, no first-day spiel. Class had begun.

The next day, Mr. Heifetz handed back our graded summer reading assignments. I saw looks of bewilderment and disbelief on my peer’s faces as they received Cs and Ds on what they thought was their best work. Still, I was unperturbed, naively waiting to receive what I believed must be an A.

Not quite. My first grade in eight grade English class was a D. I was shocked. My writing always earned me As before, what had I done wrong? My peers groaned about switching classes, about the system being rigged, complaining that they could not possibly have deserved the grades they received. When the noise died down, Mr. Heifetz explained that these grades were only a starting point. We would revise our papers with his guidance, and resubmit them. And then revise again. And resubmit. And revise again. Until the end product was at the level it needed to be, and Mr. Heifetz could give us the A we earned.

Through this experience Mr. Heifetz taught me one must never get comfortable with success. When I succeeded again and again in my English classes, I got lazy and overconfident. I began to expect As no matter what I turned in because that’s what I always got. Although I was “succeeding” by getting good grades, I was not learning or improving. Mr. Heifetz taught me to always aim for improvement and excellence through hard work, rather than expecting success because I had succeeded in the past.

Mr. Heifetz’s lesson helped me to develop the work ethic I needed to excel in high level classes, to earn my paycheck at every job I have, and to keep pushing myself when I do not receive the results I want the first time. I know that I will continue to work until I reach my life goals because of my eighth grade English teacher, Mr. Heifetz.