I got my grade back, expecting a semi-decent grade, but it was a C. This was my first college exam in an intro chemistry class.
Going into this class I didn’t think it was going to be that bad because I had 3 years of chem background and took multiple classes being part of the IB program at my high school. I realized that college is different from high school and things that worked back then wouldn’t work here. It was a bummer for me because I thought I was good at chem, but the grade didn’t reflect that. I fortunately had a drop test for this class but knew I had to pick up the slack and try harder.
I didn’t get scared, but I took on the challenge of learning new study tactics and reaching out for help. I went to office hours, talked to other students, and planned diligently what I had to do on the next tests. Of course, COVID played a big part in the class and the difficulty of it, but that is no excuse; everyone was dealing with the same thing and COVID wasn’t going away any time soon. So, if I wanted to do well in the class, I had to persevere through the adversity and succeed against all the odds.
After studying a lot for the next exam, I received an A on the exam. I was really happy that all my hard work paid off, but the work was not finished. I repeated my successful tactics for the rest of the semester and eventually received an A in the class overall.
It’s important to never give up and understand that it is still possible to do well in a class even if you don’t get a decent grade in the beginning. A lot of professors provide drop exams which are very helpful to your grade. Take advantage of as many resources as possible as you will never know which ones will help you greatly. Never give up and never stop trying.
Andrew, 2021
