Setting the Right Kind of Goals Without Social Expectations

In the beginning, my motivation and drive to do well in school came mostly from my parents. They were always pushing me to work hard in school so that I could have more options later in life. In the beginning, this was all I focused on in high school; I didn't care what classes I ended up taking or if I learned anything in them. All I focused on was taking the classes that looked good to colleges. I had to put my nose to the grindstone to get good grades, and this was my main focus at the time. This, although a good goal, put me under a ton of pressure and strain. On test scores and papers I was my toughest critic, and this started to really get to me. One day, I was on the verge of getting a B in one of my classes. This caused me a lot of stress, but it also made me realize that my goals I had set in the past needed to be tweaked before I collapsed under all of the pressure I put on myself.

I had always had to work hard in this particular class because it was a subject that didn't come naturally to me. This class was English, a subject that throughout all of my years in school, I struggled the most with. This struggle with English is where I realized that my goals should lie not in grades but in my comprehension of the subject. Instead of focusing on getting good grades in the class, I needed to make sure that I understood the material. I also needed to make sure I retained the information I learned instead of forgetting what I learned before the next week. This is something that I worked really hard on last year. I was very motivated to improve my writing and learn from my previous mistakes. I decided to make goals for myself throughout the year, such as achieving 100 percent on a spelling test or getting an A on one of my essays. These little goals helped me to track my progress, but I was also going to set one large goal for myself. My main English goal was to be an Eri Cup finalist for my last year. Although public speaking stresses me out, I really wanted to test my writing and speaking skills. I wrote and rewrote my speech until I thought it was perfect, and after memorizing it by heart, I had to give my speech. Finally it was my turn to present; I gave it my all and waited with bated breath for the list of finalists. When I heard that I had been named as a finalist, it gave me a boost of confidence that helped me to realize that I can accomplish goals I set my mind to. At the end of the year, I sat at the awards assembly and the English teachers were up on the stand. I wasn’t expecting any awards, because I’m not the best writer or the best reader, but when Mrs. Collins gave me the most improved student award, it meant a lot to me because she noticed that I had been putting more effort into my work. “So, what is next on my list of goals,” I asked myself that day. I thought that a challenging goal for me would be to take Honors English. I want to continue to improve every day, and to do this, I needed a harder class. I want to challenge myself to get better at English, whether it be by writing papers, giving speeches or understanding novels.

In conclusion, I don’t just want to take Honors English for college credits, I want to take this class for the college level understanding of English. So although I may struggle to finish all of the papers we write in this class or have a hard time remembering all of the writing rules, my mind has been set about one thing. This is a goal for me and only me. I am not doing this for my parents or for some college entry, I am taking this class because it is something that I am personally determined to do.