Something I’m Proud Of

CAS and IB are truly difficult programs, and I find that it is incredibly easy to overlook positive things and accomplishments and get caught up among challenges and weaknesses. We as a society are taught from a very early age that celebrating victories and strengths, especially those that are personal, is a selfish act and is generally inappropriate. And while humility is an important quality, it is equally important to have the ability of recognizing and celebrating your own personal strong-suites and triumphs. And so, to kick off this busy week, I will be discussing an accomplishment of mine that I feel is worth noting.
As I said above, IB is notorious for being difficult and requiring a significant commitment of time and effort to see any results at all. IB is infamous in the sense that especially as a bilingual program, students are required to not only memorize or know content, but to be able to understand content inside and out, but also to be able to apply content to real world examples. The recent case study we undertook in business is a perfect example of this new level, and it presented a unique challenge with which many students struggled. I myself studied for approximately 6 hrs, and I can happily report that I scored 1 point away from perfect. This leads us to my accomplishment of which I am proud; I have so far performed well in school and I am still showing improvement. On Friday we received out mid-trimester progress-reports, and mine was not bad at all, with significant improvement in two classes that I had previously struggled. I am proud because this trimester has proven to be extremely testing and just plain difficult on both a personal and academic level, leading me to believe I had not done as well grade-wise as I have previously, when in reality I’ve done better. I am someone who finds comfort in routine and perfection, and this trimester has at many times been neither of those, which created a negative mindset and gave me the idea that if anything, my performance was dropping. Fortunately, I am also someone who is incredibly grade oriented and persistent, and I believe that it is this quality that allowed me to persevere and pull through a rather difficult half trimester. This recent progress report success has in many ways made me feel much better in general and restored my spirits, reminding me that even in difficult times it is possible to succeed and do well, all while learning valuable life lessons about attitude, mindset, and general perception. While good grades are not a completely accurate measure of success, I believe that they serve as a tangible measure of effort, and mine demonstrate that I am doing my best to thrive and succeed. I am proud of my grades and that work that has contributed to them, and I believe this same determination will help me complete CAS and ensure the best project possible.