I’ve personally never been big on setting goals and resolutions for the New Year until last year, which is really the reason I made it here. My goal for this year hasn’t differentiated much from last year’s, however. Last year, it was to put more time and effort into my grades and work more towards getting into this school.
I had never been very serious about my grades until I heard of this school, and I decided I wanted to try and get all A’s for the first time so I could increase the probability of getting in. Although I did not get all A’s, I brought my grades significantly higher than they were before and ended up making it in, and raising my self esteem based on my founded potential. Since I have been here, I have only had all A’s on my progress and report cards after convincing myself I was capable of doing so.
This year, my goal/ resolution is to get all A’s and bring my ACT score up at least 4 points. Although I have more than just academic goals, I’m mainly focusing on these so I can get into a better college next year. I’m really just trying to work towards making my future really successful.
Before I came here, I had never thought about college or what I wanted to do with my life, much less use my passion for writing as a way to get a job or scholarship. At my old school, I was always really behind in my classes compared to all my friends due to my dyslexia, and it was really frustrating and discouraging. I was put in classes that never really challenged me the way I needed to be challenged. I gained a mentality that I probably wouldn’t be good enough to even get into a local collage. It wasn’t until last year that I started really trying in school and found what I was really capable of.
I had an interview with a war veteran in History class and my teacher asked him, “If this was the last group of students you could ever talk to, what would you say, or what do you think they need to know?” He paused for a little bit and then answered, “I would tell them… never let where you’re from make you feel like you can’t do something.” Living in Mississippi and the education system not being very effective in most parts, we are looked at as being unintelligent and incapable of having a great abundance of knowledge. However, this particular war veteran grew up in Mississippi as well and graduated from Yale and got his higher degree in learning at Harvard. Don’t let where you come from limit what you’re capable of.
Really, you can find yourself accomplishing things you never knew you were capable of until you make an effort to better yourself in any aspect. While I have my academic goals, I’m also working this year to be more outgoing and loving. This is something that is extremely difficult for me to do after losing a lot of people in my life. Believe it or not, I used to be really outgoing and talkative when I was younger, but every year of getting older, I lost more and more of that part of myself after dealing with *life*. It’s a part of myself that I want to get back, and with work, I can.
I hope you all do great with keeping your resolutions this year:)
Katie!! I am so proud of you; you have grown SO much. Granted, I didn’t know you back then, but I still would’ve been cheering you on, and you know what? you can only keep going up from here 🙂 Never let your circumstances hinder you from what you are capable of, babe <3
I relate to so many parts of this. Being more outspoken as a child and not caring about grades until MSA were two things that hit close to home. Loved reading this!