I was sitting in my sixth grade class, eager to see what we would be doing for the day. My teacher, Mrs. Sobus, was passing out papers from the tests we had last week. I had a feeling I did not do so well considering my scores from tests in the past. I anxiously sat in my seat and looked around the big, white classroom covered in shark images. As I looked around, I saw everyone talking to each other and being happy with their grades and there I sat with a devastated face. I looked down at my papers and saw D’s and “parent signature” written on all my papers. My stomach dropped, I did not think I did that bad. I was scared to show my parents, especially my mom. I sat there thinking …show more content…
I was nervous and shy when I met Alyssa, because I did not know what to expect. I did not know if she was going to be some mean teacher that would make me uncomfortable to speak or if she was going to be an understanding, kind teacher. I was grateful when Alyssa told me from the start to not be afraid to ask questions and if she needed to go longer than the hour given, she would. I instantly felt at ease, and I was not as nervous. Alyssa had asked for my planner, which was set on top of the tower of textbooks, and asked if I had any tests coming up. I handed her my review guides that I had neatly written the answers onto and my assignments that were blank. She was looking through all the pages to get an idea of where to start and how to help me study for the tests I had coming up. I stared at the cream colored walls, wondering if I should explain what we were doing or if I should just wait for her to finish reading through everything.
I sat there quietly and then decided to bring up how poorly I did on my tests from the previous week. She put down my papers and asked for those tests. She then helped me understand the mistakes I made on my tests. Most of which were silly mistakes. She told me for my next tests, that I shouldn’t rush through them and I should take the time to read each question. Going …show more content…
Along the way, I taught my friends to start using notecards to help them study too. I was constantly buying packs of notecards, and writing out questions and answers, from the review guides, on them for every test I had. All the time spent on studying using notecards was worth it. I got academic awards for my grades, and even scholarship money for my good grades. The skills Alyssa taught me, in that one day, is stuck with me forever. I was a better student. All the struggling and emotions I felt when I got bad grades were over with. Of course, here and there I get some bad grades, but nothing compares to what I use to get in sixth grade. My mom didn’t look at me like I was a disappointment. I wasn’t the failure that I thought I was. I was proud of myself, and I had a good reason to be proud. I rarely sat around feeling anxious, like that day in the sixth grade, to see my test scores. That day in sixth grade is what pops into my head when I try to procrastinate studying. That is the day that helped me realize that I needed to get onto the right path to become a better