Pre-Calculus is decidedly a class worth celebrating for me. It was here I made unprecedented growth as a mathematician and overall scholar. At the beginning of the year, I was really pushing to take this class. I scheduled meetings with teachers, and spent time developing my case. My teachers were hesitant because I skipped Advanced Algebra and was jumping into Advanced Math after a year off. To be honest, I was unsure how this class would end up going for me. However, I believed in myself, and advocated to take this class regardless of these uncertainties. I was 100% correct in believing that it would be challenging, and also correct in believing that I could handle that challenge. I have always loved math, but this class has shown me just how fun it can really be. It quickly earned its place as my favorite class. Although it’s a considerable amount of work both in-class and out, I now feel considerably more prepared for my future. Tangible evidence of my comprehension is my Composition Book, which is laden with both precise notes and (mostly) completed homework. It’s obvious that I comprehend and enjoy this class from the quality of my notes. Obviously I have learned many math concepts this past semester; including the Unit Circle, Graphing Trig Functions, Trig Proofs, Reciprocal Trig, The Sum/Difference Angle Formula, Law of Sines and Cosines, Complex Numbers & Number Proofs, Operations in Complex Space, Polar Coordinate Conversions, Euler’s Formula & Polar Graphs. All of these can be found in my Composition Book. Arguably more importantly, I learned a series of skills that make me a better mathematician, student, and person. I now have a stronger work ethic and better problem-solving skills. These skills can’t be found in any Comp. Book; you just have to believe me and look out for the growth yourself. Although the evidence is in the Comp. Book, the lesson is inside of me, and that I can take wherever I go.
In addition to my academic growth, I have grown socially this semester. I now feel I can better connect to, and understand different types of people. Throughout middle school, I had trouble connecting with people. I hated working on group projects, and I felt like I would always end up with the workload. I had trouble trusting my peers to do their part, and I felt as if the project would be better if I just did it myself. I also believed my peers to be immature, flaky, and superficial. I didn’t like to listen to other people’s opinions, and I would never admit when I was wrong. Ally’s Humanities Class has been a crucial part of this social development. She forces us to partake in Socratic Seminars and group activities with different types of people. During Socratic Seminar, I needed to learn how to convey my perspective to people with different opinions than myself in a respectful and appropriate manner. This was a challenge for me, because I am the opposite of subtle-- I either don’t speak my mind, or I do… excessively so. Outside of the classroom, I have two very different groups of friends. I have my friend group at school, and my teammies. My friends at school are very different people from me. They are all very musical and artistic; spending their time acting, songwriting, and painting. Although I enjoy doing art, my spare time is dedicated to climbing and improving myself as an athlete. They are also calmer and more introverted, while I am more high-strung and outspoken. They will never fully understand how hard I train and how passionate I am about climbing, but they’re great people and fantastic friends. My teammates are more similar to me. We all bonded through our love of climbing, and this understanding and passion drives our friendship. We are the only people who know what goes on at practice, and the only people I can threaten to stab with ice axes without consequences.
The greatest thing worth commemorating for me this semester has been my athletic training for ice climbing. I am so psyched and dedicated to what I do. Every time I climb, my love for the sport grows even stronger. Last year I competed at the UIAA Youth World Cup in Champagny-en-Vanoise, France. This year it will be held in Malbun, Liechtenstein, where I will be competing in early January. This year has been arguably tougher, for my teammates and I, because Durango doesn’t have a climbing gym for us to train in. Instead, we are doing all our training on a semi-sketchy plywood structure in our assistant coach’s backyard. It doesn’t matter if it’s cold or dark, we just turn on the spotlight and keep going. Last year I was terrified to climb with the ice axes, and that fear held me back from doing what I love to do. However, my confidence this year has improved immensely. This became evident to me after an incident that happened at training where I pulled outwards too much, blew off a hold, fell, and missed the crash pad. I landed hard on the gravely dirt on my back and fingers, tears filling my eyes. A few months ago, I would’ve been done for the day. I would’ve been too scared to try again. Even days later, I wouldn’t have wanted to commit to and try that move again. However, when my coach told me to get back up, I did. I brushed myself off, flexed my fingers to make sure nothing was broken, re-adjusted the pad, tried again, and stuck the move. Even though I was shaky, stiff, and I didn’t want to fall again, I tried anyway. I fully committed to the move, and was able to keep pushing through the pain and stick it. I had courage, and I didn’t let fear stop me from doing what I love. This is the growth I have experienced this year.
An area for growth this semester was accountability and taking ownership for my own learning. At the start of the school year, I was so enthusiastic about Biology, because it’s one of my favorite subjects. However, after a few weeks I was really struggling. I didn’t feel challenged by the material we were learning. I was quite bored in class, leading me to not turn in my assignments, do the work, or give the subject the attention it deserved. I advocated to my teacher, but nothing really came of it. Looking back, I think I might’ve gone at it the wrong way. I didn’t have a solution in my mind, just negative feedback and a closed mindset. I had a problem, but there was nothing my teacher could do to help me solve it. I didn’t have a significant amount of extra time to spare, so I shut down the idea of an independent study project. I considered taking a class online, but decided against it for the same reason. This put both my teacher and me in a tough situation, because there was nothing either of us could do to help each other. She couldn’t accelerate the class and leave my peers behind, but I couldn’t sit through many more boring class periods. I expected her to fix it for me, when really it was my responsibility to make a change. I’m old enough to take my education into my own hands, and make sure that I am ready for college Biology and Pre-Med.
Another area for growth of mine is learning how to relax. I want to do it all, but there just isn’t enough time during the day. The life of a student athlete is a busy one. This morning, my alarm went off at 6:15. I bounced out of bed, gobbled down a hard-boiled egg, and left the house for training. I spent an hour and a half bench-pressing, doing pull-ups, plank, free-weights, and more. Next, I walked in the doors to school and abruptly switched gears into academic-mode. During lunch my time is occupied with schoolwork or make-up work. Then I head back to training. I stay until around 6, when it is finally too dark and cold to continue. When I get home I scarf down a meal and hop in the shower. The rest of my evening is dedicated to homework. I can’t imagine my life any other way. It just doesn’t sit right with me to take a break, miss a training, sleep in. I think my life is as close to perfect as it’s going to get. However, all this bustle causes some problems. I tend to get sick easier than other people because I’m pushing myself so hard and stretching myself so thin. This next semester, I would like to work on relaxing a little more. I get stressed easily about my schoolwork and upcoming competitions, and that isn’t healthy. I also don’t think I’m getting enough sleep, so I’m also going to try to go to bed a little earlier. Honestly though, I don’t know what I can do to relax more. I want to do everything that I do, and I’m determined not to sacrifice anything or slack off.
Q: How do I find a balance?
Q2: How do I find balance in my future between the things I am passionate about, and the things I feel I must do to be successful?
In addition to my academic growth, I have grown socially this semester. I now feel I can better connect to, and understand different types of people. Throughout middle school, I had trouble connecting with people. I hated working on group projects, and I felt like I would always end up with the workload. I had trouble trusting my peers to do their part, and I felt as if the project would be better if I just did it myself. I also believed my peers to be immature, flaky, and superficial. I didn’t like to listen to other people’s opinions, and I would never admit when I was wrong. Ally’s Humanities Class has been a crucial part of this social development. She forces us to partake in Socratic Seminars and group activities with different types of people. During Socratic Seminar, I needed to learn how to convey my perspective to people with different opinions than myself in a respectful and appropriate manner. This was a challenge for me, because I am the opposite of subtle-- I either don’t speak my mind, or I do… excessively so. Outside of the classroom, I have two very different groups of friends. I have my friend group at school, and my teammies. My friends at school are very different people from me. They are all very musical and artistic; spending their time acting, songwriting, and painting. Although I enjoy doing art, my spare time is dedicated to climbing and improving myself as an athlete. They are also calmer and more introverted, while I am more high-strung and outspoken. They will never fully understand how hard I train and how passionate I am about climbing, but they’re great people and fantastic friends. My teammates are more similar to me. We all bonded through our love of climbing, and this understanding and passion drives our friendship. We are the only people who know what goes on at practice, and the only people I can threaten to stab with ice axes without consequences.
The greatest thing worth commemorating for me this semester has been my athletic training for ice climbing. I am so psyched and dedicated to what I do. Every time I climb, my love for the sport grows even stronger. Last year I competed at the UIAA Youth World Cup in Champagny-en-Vanoise, France. This year it will be held in Malbun, Liechtenstein, where I will be competing in early January. This year has been arguably tougher, for my teammates and I, because Durango doesn’t have a climbing gym for us to train in. Instead, we are doing all our training on a semi-sketchy plywood structure in our assistant coach’s backyard. It doesn’t matter if it’s cold or dark, we just turn on the spotlight and keep going. Last year I was terrified to climb with the ice axes, and that fear held me back from doing what I love to do. However, my confidence this year has improved immensely. This became evident to me after an incident that happened at training where I pulled outwards too much, blew off a hold, fell, and missed the crash pad. I landed hard on the gravely dirt on my back and fingers, tears filling my eyes. A few months ago, I would’ve been done for the day. I would’ve been too scared to try again. Even days later, I wouldn’t have wanted to commit to and try that move again. However, when my coach told me to get back up, I did. I brushed myself off, flexed my fingers to make sure nothing was broken, re-adjusted the pad, tried again, and stuck the move. Even though I was shaky, stiff, and I didn’t want to fall again, I tried anyway. I fully committed to the move, and was able to keep pushing through the pain and stick it. I had courage, and I didn’t let fear stop me from doing what I love. This is the growth I have experienced this year.
An area for growth this semester was accountability and taking ownership for my own learning. At the start of the school year, I was so enthusiastic about Biology, because it’s one of my favorite subjects. However, after a few weeks I was really struggling. I didn’t feel challenged by the material we were learning. I was quite bored in class, leading me to not turn in my assignments, do the work, or give the subject the attention it deserved. I advocated to my teacher, but nothing really came of it. Looking back, I think I might’ve gone at it the wrong way. I didn’t have a solution in my mind, just negative feedback and a closed mindset. I had a problem, but there was nothing my teacher could do to help me solve it. I didn’t have a significant amount of extra time to spare, so I shut down the idea of an independent study project. I considered taking a class online, but decided against it for the same reason. This put both my teacher and me in a tough situation, because there was nothing either of us could do to help each other. She couldn’t accelerate the class and leave my peers behind, but I couldn’t sit through many more boring class periods. I expected her to fix it for me, when really it was my responsibility to make a change. I’m old enough to take my education into my own hands, and make sure that I am ready for college Biology and Pre-Med.
Another area for growth of mine is learning how to relax. I want to do it all, but there just isn’t enough time during the day. The life of a student athlete is a busy one. This morning, my alarm went off at 6:15. I bounced out of bed, gobbled down a hard-boiled egg, and left the house for training. I spent an hour and a half bench-pressing, doing pull-ups, plank, free-weights, and more. Next, I walked in the doors to school and abruptly switched gears into academic-mode. During lunch my time is occupied with schoolwork or make-up work. Then I head back to training. I stay until around 6, when it is finally too dark and cold to continue. When I get home I scarf down a meal and hop in the shower. The rest of my evening is dedicated to homework. I can’t imagine my life any other way. It just doesn’t sit right with me to take a break, miss a training, sleep in. I think my life is as close to perfect as it’s going to get. However, all this bustle causes some problems. I tend to get sick easier than other people because I’m pushing myself so hard and stretching myself so thin. This next semester, I would like to work on relaxing a little more. I get stressed easily about my schoolwork and upcoming competitions, and that isn’t healthy. I also don’t think I’m getting enough sleep, so I’m also going to try to go to bed a little earlier. Honestly though, I don’t know what I can do to relax more. I want to do everything that I do, and I’m determined not to sacrifice anything or slack off.
Q: How do I find a balance?
Q2: How do I find balance in my future between the things I am passionate about, and the things I feel I must do to be successful?