My Grade 9 Year
Highschool is a place I’ve dreaded throughout my middle school years especially because it was a big jump academically and I wasn’t mentally prepared. However, I learned that I shouldn’t scare easily to something that I cannot foresee because my freshmen year at Centennial was incredibly different from what I had in mind. As I near the end of my first year of high school, I’ve realized the incredible things that I’ve done despite many hardships and struggles in both my first and second semester. First semester introduced a plethora of obstacles including three academics (Math Honors, Science, Social Studies) that I had to juggle and a new volleyball season for me at Centennial. It was incredibly challenging trying to balance school and sports at the same time, spending late nights and early mornings to keep up with homework. I had to explore outside my comfort zone as I confronted Math 10 Honors with an eager mindset to learn different fields of mathematics. I was no longer dealing with simple equations like before and was quickly presented with new concepts and formulas like polynomials and trigonometry. The repercussions of skipping Math 9 began to show as my grades quickly plummeted. Persevering was my only option and with enough hard work, I found success and reaped what I sowed ending the class with an 84%. However, my success wasn’t exclusive to Math Honors because I ended up with flying colors in every class. I was able to overcome this burden of challenges by learning to ask for help from others and keeping a positive mindset in stressful situations. I forced myself to learn from others rather than learning on my own because I finally met a level playing field where my academics skills were finally put to the test. These same principles also applied to volleyball where the nets were higher, the players were taller, and balls were hit faster. My athletic capabilities were simply no match for this environment, so, I learned how to play smarter by learning from better players. My ups and downs cultured me into the volleyball player that I am today, and my team was able to place third in our district. My second semester gave me a lot more freedom now that most of my academics were out of the way and my volleyball season was finished. I enjoyed the electives I chose this year because it gave me the chance to discover and improve on strengths and weaknesses about myself to grow as a person. This is reflected in my Metal/Wood and French class, both of which are polar opposites to each other yet match my natural skill sets. Metal/Wood allowed me to refine my hands-on crafts and creativity in unison with my proficient dexterity while teaching me that perfectionism shouldn’t collide with the quality of my work. French on the other hand enabled me to continue learning more about languages and speech in conjunction with my adept learning while recognizing that pronunciations and accents take time to gain proficiency at. These experiences are incredibly valuable to me because I still have many questions about myself that I am yet to answer but with enough time, self-growth will prove to be an invaluable investment for my future. I believe that my grade 9 year was a time of growth and self-reflection with many struggles and successes that tested my mental capabilities. While I still have much more to learn, my freshmen year at Centennial definitely marks the start to becoming a better person and will be a memorable time for decades to come.
A Useful Educational Website
Synonyms and Antonyms of Words | Thesaurus.com
Thesaurus.com proved to be an incredibly useful tool when writing because it solved a big weakness of mine which was adding variety and complexity to my sentences. My vocabulary isn’t necessarily bland; however, it lacks taste and personality which I strive to improve upon. By learning fresh synonyms to common words using an online thesaurus, I can bring my writing to life with a few simple changes.
A Useful Educational Video
Near the end of the metal portion of my Metal/Wood class, my teacher began introducing us to MIG welding, a topic that I wasn’t too confident in learning because of how dangerous it sounded. Initially, I couldn’t seem to grasp any of the information I was being taught but when my teacher showed this video on the projector, I was able to absorb a lot of the fundamentals. Of course, I repeated this video a few more times at home to fully understand the machinery I was dealing with, but I was able to gain enough confidence to weld for the first time (even though I wasn’t good at it).
A Useful Educational Image
In my French class, we are currently reading a book that takes place in Chateau Frontenac, however, we were never shown a picture of the actual hotel. Today, my teacher projected a slideshow of Chateau Frontenac and its interior which helped me visualize the setting of the story. Until now, I haven’t fully realized how grand this hotel was which gave me a new appreciation of the architecture and history of this place.
An Inspirational Quote
Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings and emotions.
-Will Smith
The reason I chose this quote is because it embodies who I am as a person which I strive to change. Sometimes, I let others influence me with their thoughts and opinions which I dwell upon heavily to meet their standards. However, there’s a fine line between being influenced and being controlled which I believe I’m in the latter half of. This quote opened my mind to a new perspective in life, one in which I’m in control of instead of being controlled. I learned to rely less on what other people think to make myself feel whole.
Works Cited
“Thesaurus.Com – The World’s Favorite Online Thesaurus!” Thesaurus.Com, 13 May 2024, https://www.thesaurus.com/.
TimWelds. MIG Welding Basics For Beginners. 2022. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc9fBVq9NlE.