At Your Best

Life has highs and lows. Everyone experiences rough spots as well as moments where they feel on top of the world. Where nothing can go wrong or bring them down. These moments of achievement always remain within that individual’s memory and life. It’s in life’s high and low moments where a person is truly defined and the world can see their true colors. In optimism, I would like to share one of my experiences where I was the very best that I could be.
Throughout high school, I was among the top five percent in grade point average in my class. This was a great accomplishment in itself, however, due to the encouragement of others and teachers, my senior year I decided to take advantage of some college level classes in order to get a jump start on college. This involved taking early morning classes, as well as some classes during the day. So to start my first semester, I enrolled in Calculus one and Composition and Speech one. Both of these classes would prove to be a challenge, but a challenge that I was willing to openly accept in order to take a step in the direction of my future.
As the school year progressed, I slowly began developing my study habits and time management skills in order to balance my work and play so I could be as efficient as possible. I spent many nights studying to late hours studying and trying to finish homework for class the next day, and thanks to the help of some classmates and my calc-aid teacher I was able to make it through my first semester with A’s. The second semester would prove to be a greater challenge when many students I took those classes with were dropping out and taking different classes. Now, I was more independent in my studying, with one other student. Together we worked through Calculus and finished top of the class, one and two.
After this experience, I graduated as a valedictorian of the first West Fork class; however, I had gained more than simply good grades. Through the year, I learned more about myself as an individual and what is truly important to me. I managed to balance time with my friends and work and was able to learn how to manage my time in order to accomplish everything that I had wanted to accomplish. These skills would prove a valuable asset as I would choose and attend ISU in the coming year.
High School holds many good memories, and many great times, but at the same time my hard work in high school is beginning to pay off in my college years. Looking back, I am glad that I pursued the college level courses my high school offered and had an experience of a lifetime. Life has its highs and lows and hundreds of choices. The answers to these choices and how you handle your moments of grandeur and failure defines you. Make sure that you make the most of every opportunity you have.