During the how to write your college essay video, the person kept emphasizing the importance of showing growth. That got me thinking about my own growth. Trying to pinpoint a specific moment in my life where I felt like I grew was difficult. Sometimes I look back on my past self and cringe at my actions, so I do know I've grown. But pinpointing a single, truly pivotal moment was difficult.
I know for a fact that I grew from 9th to 10th grade because of the difficult classes I took. I know for a fact that I grew over the pandemic because I started actually doing my homework. But these were all periods of my life, not exact moments. So I continued thinking...
I know for a fact that I grew from 9th to 10th grade because of the difficult classes I took. I know for a fact that I grew over the pandemic because I started actually doing my homework. But these were all periods of my life, not exact moments. So I continued thinking...
During my sophomore year, I took AP Chemistry. Near the beginning of the year, we covered thermodynamics. By that point, we had already gone through three unit tests, and most of these tests were manageable. If I memorized how everything was solved, then I would get a decent grade on the tests. Going into this test I thought the same, so I did my normal preparations. Nothing serious.
During the test I vividly remember cruising through, feeling confident. I finished the MCQ and felt fine. FRQ time and I was feeling fine. Then came the last problem. I genuinely had no clue how to solve it and I felt hopeless. I had to find the enthalpy of reaction, but the chemicals weren’t on the formula sheet. I even asked Mr. Moore if there was an error in this question because I didn’t remember him teaching it in class. And then it clicked. I had to use the net ionic equation from last chapter. And in that moment, I felt like the smartest person in the world because I found my own solution. And I did grow from this. From that test on, instead of memorizing solutions, I made sure I understood the concepts. I would figure out the solutions on test day. Instead of stressing the night before and staying up until midnight memorizing all the solutions, I went to bed early and felt excited.
After this class, I realized I really loved problem-solving. It was probably one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done. I even started seeking out challenging problems online just to recreate the same feeling.
During the test I vividly remember cruising through, feeling confident. I finished the MCQ and felt fine. FRQ time and I was feeling fine. Then came the last problem. I genuinely had no clue how to solve it and I felt hopeless. I had to find the enthalpy of reaction, but the chemicals weren’t on the formula sheet. I even asked Mr. Moore if there was an error in this question because I didn’t remember him teaching it in class. And then it clicked. I had to use the net ionic equation from last chapter. And in that moment, I felt like the smartest person in the world because I found my own solution. And I did grow from this. From that test on, instead of memorizing solutions, I made sure I understood the concepts. I would figure out the solutions on test day. Instead of stressing the night before and staying up until midnight memorizing all the solutions, I went to bed early and felt excited.
After this class, I realized I really loved problem-solving. It was probably one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done. I even started seeking out challenging problems online just to recreate the same feeling.
Now that I look back on it, the times when I grew were the times when I felt hopeless. And I guess it made me realize that the only way to grow is to feel hopeless. I can only grow if life sucks. But I guess that's what's beautiful about life. When life sucks, I'll grow.
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