Academics has been a strong motivator in my life. However, this motivator was not always my biggest strength. Believe it or not, I have had a lot of difficulties in many academic subjects. Much of this difficulty springs from my academic years in elementary school as well as migrating from another country. Coming from a country where English is spoken little to none and United States history is rarely taught, proved to be my biggest challenge. After being enrolled in elementary school, the challenges that English and history instilled in my life only began to worsen. Both of these subjects were now part of my curriculum and there was nothing that I could do to stop learning them. The worst, however, was seeing how the students around me were skillfully proficient in history and English. I remember when teachers used to call on them to read stories that they read like a memorized song. Likewise, the students would recall historical dates and events that only proved to baffle me.
As many immigrants in the United States, my parents' search for a life with richer opportunities was something that tremendously affected me. The reason for this was because, as a child, moving away from everything that I knew was beyond shocking. I was only seven years old when I had first set foot in an American school. Such experience proved to be a challenge of its own because I had to assimilate to a completely new life. With this new life also came the task of having to learn a new language. However, my own vulnerability fed me with the strength to persevere. Every day after coming home from school, I remember going straight to my room and scouring through the many English books that my mom had bought me. I forced myself to read one book each night by sounding out new words. Whenever I came upon a word that I did not know how to pronounce, I would write it down and take it to my teacher the following morning. This habit continued all the way throughout elementary and middle school. Upon reaching high school, I faced a new challenge. This challenge was making sure that I understood what I was reading. I was realizing that being able to read something was one thing, but comprehending it was completely different. In fact, this skill is one that I still continue to refine. Many of the struggles that I had faced while learning English, however, began to dissipate with time. My writing began to take more shape and style because of all the practice I had been exposed to. I saw the partial end of this struggle in seeing myself take A.P English Literature as a junior in high school. The course was a challenge, but all the things that I learned made my struggle appear, far more, enriching.
History has always been a subject where memorization and practice have played a painful role. It is this that makes history a challenge for many students across the world. I identify myself with many of those students. Since middle school, history classes have been a dreadful pain for me. Such pain originated from lacking the skills necessary to commit facts to memory. Another factor that contributed to my struggle with history was the lack of interest that I had for the subject. I never really understood the purpose of studying history in life. Such indifference was what made my grades in all of my history classes plunge to nearly failing grades. This, however, changed for the better by the time I had reached seventh grade. As a seventh grader, the guidance that I received from my teacher, Mrs. Daniels, was beyond helpful. She would always tell me that success in history does not come from having an interest or disinterest in the subject. One must focus on the purpose for why one studies history. She once told me, that in order for my grades to improve in history I had to have a goal in mind. I began to see the goal of graduating from college and becoming an airline pilot as something to reach for. Apart from that, I began to connect personal experiences with events in history in order to help me recall memorized facts. Such skills proved to bring a significant amount of success throughout many of my high school history courses. Challenging myself with A.P United States history was one of the best things I had ever done. My exposure to college level history proved that Mrs. Daniels's advice was working. My grades jumped from seventies to high nineties. There were times when I would walk out of a high school history class with only two points away from one hundred. This improvement demonstrated me how strong perseverance and dedication can be in helping a person overcome their worst struggle.
Overall, the challenges I had to face with English and history were extreme. I was able to enhance my skills in both subjects. Likewise, I was able to overcome the vulnerability that at one point fed my hunger for learning and also kept me behind. There is still a long road to go and I know that it will not be easy. Continuing to better my skills in these subjects will take a lot more than just perseverance. There will be many other struggles that I will be forced to endure. However, there is an essence in struggling. I have realized that struggles help us grow. It is for this reason, that success is much sweeter when life strikes us with struggles that seem impossible to overcome. Once we overcome them, life becomes a story of lessons learned.
As many immigrants in the United States, my parents' search for a life with richer opportunities was something that tremendously affected me. The reason for this was because, as a child, moving away from everything that I knew was beyond shocking. I was only seven years old when I had first set foot in an American school. Such experience proved to be a challenge of its own because I had to assimilate to a completely new life. With this new life also came the task of having to learn a new language. However, my own vulnerability fed me with the strength to persevere. Every day after coming home from school, I remember going straight to my room and scouring through the many English books that my mom had bought me. I forced myself to read one book each night by sounding out new words. Whenever I came upon a word that I did not know how to pronounce, I would write it down and take it to my teacher the following morning. This habit continued all the way throughout elementary and middle school. Upon reaching high school, I faced a new challenge. This challenge was making sure that I understood what I was reading. I was realizing that being able to read something was one thing, but comprehending it was completely different. In fact, this skill is one that I still continue to refine. Many of the struggles that I had faced while learning English, however, began to dissipate with time. My writing began to take more shape and style because of all the practice I had been exposed to. I saw the partial end of this struggle in seeing myself take A.P English Literature as a junior in high school. The course was a challenge, but all the things that I learned made my struggle appear, far more, enriching.
History has always been a subject where memorization and practice have played a painful role. It is this that makes history a challenge for many students across the world. I identify myself with many of those students. Since middle school, history classes have been a dreadful pain for me. Such pain originated from lacking the skills necessary to commit facts to memory. Another factor that contributed to my struggle with history was the lack of interest that I had for the subject. I never really understood the purpose of studying history in life. Such indifference was what made my grades in all of my history classes plunge to nearly failing grades. This, however, changed for the better by the time I had reached seventh grade. As a seventh grader, the guidance that I received from my teacher, Mrs. Daniels, was beyond helpful. She would always tell me that success in history does not come from having an interest or disinterest in the subject. One must focus on the purpose for why one studies history. She once told me, that in order for my grades to improve in history I had to have a goal in mind. I began to see the goal of graduating from college and becoming an airline pilot as something to reach for. Apart from that, I began to connect personal experiences with events in history in order to help me recall memorized facts. Such skills proved to bring a significant amount of success throughout many of my high school history courses. Challenging myself with A.P United States history was one of the best things I had ever done. My exposure to college level history proved that Mrs. Daniels's advice was working. My grades jumped from seventies to high nineties. There were times when I would walk out of a high school history class with only two points away from one hundred. This improvement demonstrated me how strong perseverance and dedication can be in helping a person overcome their worst struggle.
Overall, the challenges I had to face with English and history were extreme. I was able to enhance my skills in both subjects. Likewise, I was able to overcome the vulnerability that at one point fed my hunger for learning and also kept me behind. There is still a long road to go and I know that it will not be easy. Continuing to better my skills in these subjects will take a lot more than just perseverance. There will be many other struggles that I will be forced to endure. However, there is an essence in struggling. I have realized that struggles help us grow. It is for this reason, that success is much sweeter when life strikes us with struggles that seem impossible to overcome. Once we overcome them, life becomes a story of lessons learned.
