Working Hard Pays Off
By Elaura, age 17, California
We all have our own perceptions of what we expect in high school. Most of our parents want us to do our best and to do well. As teenagers we tend not to listen to any advice our parents try to give us, mostly because we think that they are old and don't understand what it is like to be teenagers these days. But we should listen to them when it comes to school. Believe me, they only want to help us.
Going into high school my mother told me that I should take all the hard classes that I absolutely needed to take first, like health, p.e., and so on. She said that if I get all the hard stuff out of the way it would allow me to have an easy senior year!
Freshmen year I did take all the classes I needed, but I slacked off my first semester. I believe my GPA was lower than a 2.0. Since my school is year round I had to make up the classes I failed that semester in what we call intercession. It's kind of like summer school, but it's in October.
I tried my best throughout the years. Now my senior year has come. I started in July, and guess what? My mom was right. I have 5 periods. Three electives - peer mediation, office aide, and photography - and 2 main classes that I absolutely need - economics and English. Our first progress report came out last Friday and I am glad to say that I have a 4.0! Straight A's!
My friend used to always ditch in freshman and sophomore year. She never did any work. She just really didn't try. Now it is all catching up to her senior year. She only has one year to make up all those credits that she failed before. If she doesn't, she doesn't graduate. It's that simple. As for me, I am ahead of my credits. I only need 8 more credits to graduate!
Working hard throughout the years has definitely paid off for me. I want to tell everyone who is going to be starting high school that you should not slack off for the next four years. If you do it will affect you dramatically. If you work hard it will pay off. You may feel overwhelmed at times, but in the end it will all be worth it when you have your diploma in your hand!
