harrisong
Oct 10, 2015
Undergraduate / If you had one do-over in life, what would it be? UNC ESSAY. [2]
Dr. Mars, the principal of my school, is perhaps the kindest person I have ever met and has personally assisted me in multiple ways since she arrived at my high school. She is always available to answer questions about a class, help start a new club or project, or just have a conversation. This is why I was completely mortified when I said something to her that made me to appear to lack basic intelligence as well as common sense.
As student body vice president, I meet with the entire student government as well as Dr. Mars and other school administrators at least once every week. In one particular meeting earlier this year, I had to arrive half an hour late due to a doctor's appointment. The topic being currently discussed was parent-teacher day, particularly what day of the week it should be on. As result of a fatal mixture of my exhaustion and generally poor hearing, I made the mistake of interpreting the term "PT Day," referring to parent-teacher day, as "pizza day".
As I sat there making a compelling argument for why LaGuardia High School's pizza day should be on Tuesday the 10th rather than Wednesday the 11th, looks of confusion and dismay spread themselves across my fellow students' and school administrators' faces. I foolishly interpreted these looks as ones of clarity and understanding. Five minutes later, when I finished my proposition, I sat back in my chair with a toothy smile on my face. Later that day, the student body president explained to me what had happened; I was instantly paralyzed with fear.
If I could have one do-over in my entire life, it would be in this moment. I would not have confused "PT day" with "pizza day". I would never have talked about why it should have been on a Tuesday rather than a Wednesday. Most importantly, I would not have discussed it for FIVE MINUTES. Even if I was talking about parent teacher day, the date of an event is such a simple issue to resolve. It should never involve a five-minute argument by one person.
Unfortunately, do-overs are not real things, but they can lead to learning from them. In the weeks that followed, I have made every effort to be on time. I make sure to listen first instead of just trying to speak and make my point, always taking specific notes of the topic at hand to further insure no future miscommunications. Most importantly, I have worked in each of those meetings to earn back the respect from Dr. Mars that I so quickly dismantled in a mere five minutes with my notions of pizza day.
Dr. Mars, the principal of my school, is perhaps the kindest person I have ever met and has personally assisted me in multiple ways since she arrived at my high school. She is always available to answer questions about a class, help start a new club or project, or just have a conversation. This is why I was completely mortified when I said something to her that made me to appear to lack basic intelligence as well as common sense.
As student body vice president, I meet with the entire student government as well as Dr. Mars and other school administrators at least once every week. In one particular meeting earlier this year, I had to arrive half an hour late due to a doctor's appointment. The topic being currently discussed was parent-teacher day, particularly what day of the week it should be on. As result of a fatal mixture of my exhaustion and generally poor hearing, I made the mistake of interpreting the term "PT Day," referring to parent-teacher day, as "pizza day".
As I sat there making a compelling argument for why LaGuardia High School's pizza day should be on Tuesday the 10th rather than Wednesday the 11th, looks of confusion and dismay spread themselves across my fellow students' and school administrators' faces. I foolishly interpreted these looks as ones of clarity and understanding. Five minutes later, when I finished my proposition, I sat back in my chair with a toothy smile on my face. Later that day, the student body president explained to me what had happened; I was instantly paralyzed with fear.
If I could have one do-over in my entire life, it would be in this moment. I would not have confused "PT day" with "pizza day". I would never have talked about why it should have been on a Tuesday rather than a Wednesday. Most importantly, I would not have discussed it for FIVE MINUTES. Even if I was talking about parent teacher day, the date of an event is such a simple issue to resolve. It should never involve a five-minute argument by one person.
Unfortunately, do-overs are not real things, but they can lead to learning from them. In the weeks that followed, I have made every effort to be on time. I make sure to listen first instead of just trying to speak and make my point, always taking specific notes of the topic at hand to further insure no future miscommunications. Most importantly, I have worked in each of those meetings to earn back the respect from Dr. Mars that I so quickly dismantled in a mere five minutes with my notions of pizza day.