Personal Narrative

When I was younger, school was not my favorite place.  I would rush through assignments, completing them as quickly as possible, so I could play outside or with friends.  This boyish mentality was cute and typical while younger; after all, boys will be boys.

During fifth grade was when I started to mature (on a minuscule level of course). Deciding to take more interest in schoolwork, I realized by really paying attention during class, I could do well on the tests.  Although these tests were not the most challenging, due to being fifth grade material, getting an “A” felt great.  As that year progressed, my grades and interest in doing well increased. 

Following fifth grade came the big deal, junior high.  Junior high is a serious time in a young kid’s life; they feel they are really moving up in the world.  Along with the new cool junior high attitude came an increase in the difficulty of schoolwork (or so it seemed at the time).  Different from fifth grade, schoolwork took more than just paying attention in class to get good grades.  From this point on, everything changed.  I was introduced to something that I heard of, but never truly experienced, studying.  Studying was a very foreign approach to me.  Although new to me, I decided to give it a shot.  After trying studying, I quickly realized I was not very interested in it, but kept trying since I took school more seriously at the time.  Even after studying for the first few tests I did not receive high grades.  Putting all the effort in studying and not getting good grades was very frustrating.  Since my efforts did not reciprocate good grades, I lost motivation.  When complaining to my parents that I was not doing well, even though I had been studying, my dad made a suggestion.  He said, “Maybe you’re not studying the right way?”  I did not understand what he meant by studying wrong.  Being a kind, loving, and supporting father, he offered to help teach me to study.      

Boy was he right; I had no idea about real studying.  He taught me how to strenuously go through chapters and really understand and focus on each and every word and idea while reading.  My father stressed promptness and discipline.  After studying with him, my grades improved tremendously.  I received among the highest test grades in the class from that point on.  By no means was the way he studied fun, but was really effective.  As I mentioned earlier, felt getting good grades felt great.  Throughout the rest of junior high and through high school, I successfully used the newly learned study method.

Being successful was very important to me.   Doing well was now a big part in life.  My father always put a high value in education, since he worked hard to become a periodontist with a master’s degree in histology.  Knowing the seriousness of school, my father once told my four sisters and myself when entering college, “How you do your freshman year will determine your success in college and perhaps affect your whole future.”  If you start successfully, you will want to maintain the success.  This was the lesson he taught me when I was young without even realizing what I had learned.  So, I plan to currently use his advice wisely during my first year of college. After all, following my father’s advice, my sisters did well their freshman year, each achieving their own successes.  My oldest sister has become a teacher with a master’s degree, my second sister has received a doctorate in psychology, my third sister has become a Doctor of Dental Medicine, and my fourth sister is doing well in college with intentions of become either a dentist or psychologist.             

The importance of doing well and taking education seriously bestowed on me the interest to research the subjectivity behind grading.  After all, since teachers control your grade, consequently can control your opportunities and future success.