Overcoming an academic challenge – Term Paper

In my sophomore year of high school I transferred from the Academy of Mount St. Ursula to Democracy Prep Charter High School. My grades weren`t all that great so I transferred into a school that was said to be more academically prestigious. Although the teachers were much stricter, and gave loads of work every night, they actually cared about me and motivated me to excel and want to go to college. There were a few students that excelled in every subject without studying, and I wasn`t one of those. I struggled in most areas of Math and Science, particularly, Geometry, Chemistry, Physics, and Algebra II/Trig.

I think it was hard for me to excel in these subject areas because, I did not think I was pushed or motivated by my teachers in Mount St. Ursula when I started struggling in them. My parents also weren`t good at Math either, and as I got older my Science classes started to incorporate Math in them and Math was getting more and more impossible. I thought that if I was often failing classes related to Math and Science, that I was just not good at them so, I started to put myself down and give up. So when I started school at Democracy Prep I had in my brain that I wasn`t smart. Going into the school was a culture shock in itself. I had to actually work extremely hard just to get passing scores but, because my teachers cared about me and believed in my capacity, I started to believe and do better in these subjects.

I remember staying after school for tutoring almost every day from 4:30pm to 6:00pm and on a few occasions 7:00pm. Every single teacher that taught me knew that it was harder for me to wrap my mind around certain concepts than it was for most students. I continued to persevere and convert my teachers` motivation into the strength that I needed to be better. Due to hard work and my change of attitude I was able to receive awards in these subjects. I mostly struggled in my junior and senior year with Physics and Algebra II/Trig. I actually failed the Physics Regents by four points and had to repeat the entire class my senior year. I remember saying to myself “If only I would have gotten two more questions correct I wouldn`t have to do this,” but because I was angry it made me paid extra attention in class, ask more questions, and make sure I was the first one to raise my hand even if I wasn`t sure that my answer was correct. This was something that I was always afraid to do but realized that this method, along with tutoring helped me excel in these subjects.

Although I had to work twice as hard than other students I was able to overcome this and get into a prestigious college. I am currently a sophomore at Bryn Mawr College and had to take a Math class last semester, in which I earned a B grade because I applied the same methods I did in high school and was able to build a relationship with my professor. I am not looking forward to taking more of these subjects because they aren`t subjects I enjoy but, I am going to push through and do what I have to do to get the scores I want and pass these courses. These are challenges I will still face, but that doesn`t mean I can`t keep overcoming them time and time again.