What Does Reform Mean To You Essay

The Marriam-Webster dictionary defines reform as “to put or change into an improved form or condition.” Reform is to come to a full understanding that something needs to or is going to change. Whether it is something you need to change within you or outside of you, reform can happen in many ways. Thomas Carlyle explains, “Reform is not pleasant, but grievous; no person can reform themselves without suffering and hard work, how much less a nation.” What Carlyle is trying to clarify is that reform is no easy task that can be done comfortably; it is something that takes dedication and hard work. I agree that reform is not pleasant because my experience on how difficult, time consuming, and grievous it can be, confirms it. There are many ways …show more content…
Throughout my life I was never serious about my future or where it was going to take me. During my time in middle school and half of high school, I did not take full responsibility of my schoolwork and actions. Though my parents always took full notice of my behavior, they tried too hard to change me, which angered me. Reality hit me in 10th grade when I realized that all my peers were serious about their future and were already looking into colleges. At this point, I concluded that reform was my only option. If I wanted to do something with my life, I had to start right now. When Carlyle explains, “no person can reform themselves without suffering and hard work”, it really helped me relate to my life because my process of reform was a lot of late nights studying and suffering. It was no easy task to bump my GPA from a 2.7 to a 3.5 by the end of senior year in high school. With the commitment that I knew came from reform I was able to do it in order to make an improvement on myself and on my knowledge. With full extent knowledge of reform, I was able to utilize it in other areas of my …show more content…
To fully achieve reform, there is a lot of vital commitment and responsibility. When Carlyle says “…; no person can reform themselves without suffering and hard work, how much less a nation.”, he points out that if a person has this great ordeal of suffering for reform, how can a nation with a lot of people accomplish this task? Proving the point that reform can be complicated for a person, Carlyle uses the example of a nation to put in proportion how difficult it can be in general. Improving on my overall view of life and schoolwork from 10th grade to college, I did not fully comprehend the commitment that was at hand when I first started my journey of reform. The countless hours of sleep I did not get, and the rewarding grades I received, it was all worth it because I had become a better person for myself. Going to the gym every day and eating healthy was complicated especially because I was always craving something greasy or sweet. With the commitment that comes with accomplishing reform, I was able to pull through and become a better person physically and