My face starts getting red, and I feel my pulse getting faster. I see the grade that doesn’t satisfy me. I tell myself.“I need to see what I got wrong.” However, as I turn around, I am starting to see myself entering into a brighter light. When I was a kid in high school, I was the kid who didn’t study much. My family promotes me to achieve a better life. The biggest problem with me in high school was I never reflected on the things that I got wrong. I didn’t check up with the teachers what I got wrong and didn’t even look at what I got wrong. The difficult thing about life is you need to admit that there is a problem until there is a problem.
When I was a Freshman in college, I had many pressures from my surrounding. The pressures were higher, and I needed to focus more on my academics. So, I decided to reflect on myself like a mirror. Mirrors only show the things that are there. There are no imaginations, no judging. It reflects nothing else but us. After a few hours of self-reflecting, I knew what I needed to do. To grow into the person that I believe I can be in the future, first, I needed to recognize how to find and grasp on to opportunities given by my faculties, by attending TA sessions and Professors’ office hours in school. I believe this was the most effective first step in becoming a better student. I even had alarms set up for office hours, so I didn’t miss a single one. I asked everything from d/dx (x^n) = (nx ^(n-1)) to d/dx (csc(u)) = -csc(u)cot(u) d/dx(u). To add on, I got help from my friends, especially in writing classes. I asked them to read through my essays and give their own opinions. Many of them gave me critical feedback and pieces of advice.
Ever since then, my grades started to rise dramatically. It was fun to take tests and quizzes anytime because I was very well prepared. Even if I make a mistake, I will reflect on why I made the mistake and was very happy. I was at a point when people say they like studying. I liked studying because I knew I would ace the test. I had confidence
Few years after that, from continuously acing my tests and reflecting, I decided to become an engineer. My mentor Professor Borgesen, head of the Industrial Engineering Programs at Binghamton University, allowed me to work with his graduate students and taught me how to become engineering.
The kid who slacked off in high school is now a computer system information major in Baruch College. I still reflect daily on what I accomplished, what I did wrong, and what I desire to fix. I currently write diaries to help me even better to be a mirror. It might seem not that important, but I know it transformed my life drastically. We should try to be a mirror in our lives and reflect.
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Simon,Hello, I can totally see where you are coming from, I was very similar in high school, but my problem was that I procrastinated a lot. I tried so many things to fix it and nothing worked. It did not really effect my grades but it put a tremendous amount of stress on me in the end. I got that bad habit fixed. a little bit in college but now with online classes I can see it coming back a little bit. I will try to do what I did in high school.
Hi Simon! Your story and accomplishment are very inspiring. I recall that you are an ESL student, and as a former ESL student, I know how tough school can get and I applaud you for overcoming these challenges. One takeaway I get from your post is that mistakes can make you better. It has a way of pushing you to improve. This reminds me of a time I had to practice a lot for an entrance exam. I actually really liked making mistakes on my practice tests so that I’d know what to watch out for next time. I also love that you reached out to others for help.
Hi Simon I admire your perseverance to achieve your goals and you are totally right it’s important for us to take a look at mirror not only when we are faced with a predicament but also when we are making progress after all overconfident does bring down what was built and the best way to move forward is to keep the dream alive thanks for sharing
Hello Simon, thanks for sharing your story. As a student, I can really relate to your experience. I remember in my freshman year of college I was struggling with my grades. It was very different from what was taught and how was taught in the past. After the first semester of Cs and B, I also took the time to reflect on my way of learning. It really helps. Now I am comfortable with the class flow and able to manage my workload.
Hi Simon!
Trust me I feel you on this one. School is hard, stressful and can really affect your mental health. Let’s not forget the pressure you feel by your parents and teachers. I’m happy your friends and decisions helped you grow as a student and as a person too. But, remember that grades aren’t everything in life. If you feel burned out, please take a break.
Hey Simon, I really enjoyed reading your blog. It’s nice to see that after some self-reflection, you were able to come to terms with yourself and better your grades. I think it’s healthy for people to understand their weaknesses and work hard to fix them.