An ideal student is self-disciplined and respects the rules of conduct. He is always mindful of his responsibilities and adheres to the 5 C’s. He is honest, generous, and enthusiastic. He’s driven to learn everything he can and to be completely honest. In Junior High, however, I wasn’t always the ideal student.
I was the type of student that would do the bare minimum. What I mean by this is making sure that I passed whatever I needed to pass, without making much of an effort; even though I knew, deep down, that I had potential. I would do my homework late, and there would be times when I would cram them in school. Even though I knew that I was struggling with some of my subjects, I was stubborn and avoided consultations with my teachers. Having this mindset only made it difficult for me as it helped develop my laid-back attitude in school. This attitude would later on help me neglect my school work and instead do things that I wanted, like going to parties.
However, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. When several of my teachers requested a PTC with my parents concerning my academic performance in the third quarter, it hit me. My parents were unhappy with me and called me a disappointment, and I’d hit rock bottom at this time. I was depressed and felt like a failure, and as a result, I lacked motivation, knowing that I could have done better but was too lazy to act. They were disappointed in me, but I knew I had potential and, for the first time in a long time, I took initiative to change to be better.
Changing for the better proved to be more difficult than expected. Knowing that I spent the most of grade 10 slacking off, I was naive to think that I could be the best version of myself by a day. To be honest, I was lost until I gathered the courage to seek help from teachers and mentors. This was challenging because I usually did things on my own, but I knew it was a step in the right direction. With my mentors’ love, guidance, and support, a path was laid out for me, and all I had to do was follow it. It’s one of those finicky things that sounds fantastic in theory but is really difficult to do in practice. I never left my artificial little box and never strayed too far. It’s easy to become accustomed to our surroundings and not want to break our comfort. But I wanted to grow, which meant tearing through the walls and exposing myself to a world of discomfort. Slowly but steadily, I began to adjust to my new surroundings. Academically, I noticed that I was improving since I was now actively engaging in class and receiving higher grades on the assessments. With all of these accomplishments, I was able to reclaim the confidence that I had previously lost, and I am now able to say that I have turned my life around.
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc over the world, and education, like every essential sector, has been hard hit. Moving on to Senior High was difficult at first because we were introduced to distance learning, which was unfamiliar to us because traditional academic education consisted of speaking in a classroom, taking notes, asking questions, and having those questions answered. I became disoriented once more as my workload and the stress of a raging epidemic overwhelmed me. But, when I noticed myself sliding and gradually acquiring my old habits, I reminded myself of the person I didn’t want to be, and as a result, I pushed myself to the limit and maintained the progress I had begun last school year. It was all worth it in the end as I got good grades and conduct and it demonstrated that I had the capacity to do so.
I may have started my grade 10 journey on the wrong foot, but it provided me with vital lessons that I have applied to my life to this day. As much as I anticipate and plan for the future, I am always learning new things in the present to help me be the best I can be. I still have a lot of regrets and anger over many things. However, I am attempting to learn from my mistakes and to accept the good with the bad.